Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Has $3.53 Million Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 53 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $3,531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Evolution Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 106.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 173 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on ADP. Wolfe Research upgraded Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $254.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total transaction of $90,899.68. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 20,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,018,996.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $215,750.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,071,250. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total value of $90,899.68. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,319 shares in the company, valued at $5,018,996.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,162 shares of company stock worth $3,741,859 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP traded down $3.27 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $243.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,555,489 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,384,926. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $205.53 and a one year high of $256.84. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $246.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $239.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

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

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.