GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Boosts Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,994 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $7,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ADP. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the second quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,302,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 5,581 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,402,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Patron Partners LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 2,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $683,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.8% in the second quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 5,432 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $278.40 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $259.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $250.38. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $205.53 and a one year high of $279.58. The firm has a market cap of $113.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share 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 $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.50%.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,899,862.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total value of $2,479,748.35. Following the transaction, the director now owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at $9,899,862.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,959,908.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 58,817 shares of company stock valued at $15,999,208 over the last ninety days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.