Hamel Associates Inc. Lowers Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Hamel Associates Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,850 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 90 shares during the quarter. Hamel Associates Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 23.2% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 18,414 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,599,000 after buying an additional 3,465 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter worth $754,000. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 28.9% during the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,791 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 14.2% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 801,857 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $200,256,000 after purchasing an additional 99,515 shares during the period. Finally, D Orazio & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.6% during the first quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 2,179 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $307.91 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $125.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $285.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $262.92. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $226.09 and a 1-year high of $309.21.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at $9,899,862.45. This represents 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. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $9,781,200. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 97,792 shares of company stock worth $27,691,708 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ADP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

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.