Exeter Financial LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Exeter Financial LLC grew its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,606 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Automatic Data Processing comprises about 1.8% of Exeter Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $3,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 1,054 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.1% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% during the third quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,902,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,360,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 4.4% in the third quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 923 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of Automatic Data Processing 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,062 shares of company stock worth $12,299,550. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 1.2 %

ADP stock opened at $290.20 on Tuesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.24 billion, a PE ratio of 30.97, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $298.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $278.98.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.74%.

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.