WealthTrust Axiom LLC Trims Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

WealthTrust Axiom LLC lessened its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,921 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 125 shares during the period. WealthTrust Axiom LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at about $242,000. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 96.3% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 14,186 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,491,000 after buying an additional 6,958 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at about $98,000. Finally, Suncoast Equity Management boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Suncoast Equity Management now owns 96,249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $23,156,000 after buying an additional 2,238 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $258.36.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADP traded down $0.99 on Tuesday, hitting $242.96. 820,503 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,773,738. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $205.53 and a 1-year high of $256.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $246.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $239.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.81 billion, a PE ratio of 28.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.78.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 95.22%. The business had revenue of $4.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.96 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 65.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total transaction of $90,899.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,018,996.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total transaction of $90,899.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,018,996.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $2,776,585.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 19,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,876,970. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,162 shares of company stock worth $3,741,859. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing 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.