Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. Has $2.11 Million Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. reduced its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,819 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 40 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,105,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 87,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $20,368,000 after acquiring an additional 23,173 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth $338,000. Provence Wealth Management Group boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 20,266.7% during the fourth quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 1,222 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216 shares in the last quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Finally, AJOVista LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at $156,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,959,908.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at $23,959,908.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total value of $228,927.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,816,946. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:ADP traded up $2.55 on Friday, hitting $275.91. 1,548,080 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,366,105. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $253.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $248.98. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $205.53 and a 52 week high of $276.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $112.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.78.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 89.20%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on ADP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $265.36.

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.