J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Has $1.77 Million Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,032 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 48 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,766,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 127,582 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,306,000 after purchasing an additional 3,456 shares during the period. Veracity Capital LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $204,000. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 12,692 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,512,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 14.3% in the third quarter. Arlington Partners LLC now owns 14,664 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,058,000 after purchasing an additional 1,829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bellecapital International Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.5% in the third quarter. Bellecapital International Ltd. now owns 24,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,759,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,077,721.04. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 value of $106,366.46. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $308.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.56 billion, a PE ratio of 32.13, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $297.56 and its 200-day moving average is $288.77. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $311.67.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. Equities analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 64.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two 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, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.55.

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.