Buffington Mohr McNeal Cuts Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Buffington Mohr McNeal trimmed its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 236 shares during the period. Buffington Mohr McNeal’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $683,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ADP. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 801,857 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $200,256,000 after acquiring an additional 99,515 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 70.7% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 638,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $152,405,000 after purchasing an additional 264,466 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 195.1% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 51,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,888,000 after purchasing an additional 34,118 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 1st quarter valued at $2,924,000. Finally, LVW Advisors LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 23.8% in the first quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 3,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $962,000 after buying an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $291.96 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $205.53 and a twelve month high of $294.18. The firm has a market cap of $119.50 billion, a PE ratio of 32.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $276.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $256.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 89.20% and a net margin of 19.54%. The firm had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.50%.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $5,253,553.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 92,807 shares in the company, valued at $25,464,384.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total value of $5,253,553.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 92,807 shares in the company, valued at $25,464,384.66. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total transaction of $228,927.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,816,946. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 58,817 shares of company stock valued at $15,999,208 over the last ninety days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $282.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $267.83.

About Automatic Data Processing

Automatic Data Processing, Inc provides cloud-based human capital management solutions worldwide. It operates in two segments, Employer Services and Professional Employer Organization (PEO). The Employer Services segment offers strategic, cloud-based platforms, and human resources (HR) outsourcing solutions.