Sheets Smith Wealth Management Makes New Investment in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 1,931 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $534,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ADP. Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 63,540 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059 shares during the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 42.2% during the third quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 192 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.5% in the third quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC now owns 5,204 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the third quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 34,848 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,643,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 80.2% during the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 4,241 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,174,000 after acquiring an additional 1,887 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total value of $7,164,724.32. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,959,908.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.0 %

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $304.73 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $124.17 billion, a PE ratio of 32.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $225.38 and a fifty-two week high of $306.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $284.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $261.93.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on ADP shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Company Profile

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.