Physicians Financial Services Inc. Sells 925 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Physicians Financial Services Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 22,437 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 925 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing makes up approximately 1.9% of Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $6,209,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,769,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,932,020,000 after purchasing an additional 173,298 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,065,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $964,989,000 after acquiring an additional 435,093 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.3% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,625,186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $905,354,000 after acquiring an additional 81,869 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,548,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $846,912,000 after purchasing an additional 139,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,556,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $610,182,000 after buying an additional 9,464 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ADP shares. Barclays upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP traded up $0.81 during trading on Friday, reaching $305.66. The stock had a trading volume of 79,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,628,824. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $225.38 and a 52 week high of $306.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $282.92 and its 200 day moving average is $261.11. The stock has a market cap of $124.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.77%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 10,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,816,946. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total transaction of $228,927.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,816,946. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total value of $7,164,724.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,959,908.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,817 shares of company stock valued at $15,999,208 in the last quarter. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.