Garner Asset Management Corp Has $1.14 Million Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Garner Asset Management Corp raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 162 shares during the quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 37.6% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 7,109 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,977,000 after buying an additional 1,942 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 28.1% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $592,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $664,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. WESPAC Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, Lane & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 50.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lane & Associates LLC now owns 2,815 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $779,000 after buying an additional 941 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.2 %

ADP opened at $305.15 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $227.12 and a twelve month high of $309.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $289.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $266.02. 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 market capitalization of $124.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $1.54 dividend. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.77%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. This trade represents a 20.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total value of $7,164,724.32. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,959,908.96. This represents a 23.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,946 shares of company stock valued at $27,462,781 in the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ADP shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

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.