Apella Capital LLC Lowers Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Apella Capital LLC decreased its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,255 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 362 shares during the quarter. Apella Capital LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $561,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 35.5% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 11,822 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,461,000 after buying an additional 3,096 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 16,677 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,882,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 5,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,499,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 501,493 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $146,802,000 after acquiring an additional 99,912 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of ADP stock opened at $291.69 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $118.85 billion, a PE ratio of 31.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $298.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $279.35. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $309.63.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were 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 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 65.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of Automatic Data Processing 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,129 shares of company stock valued at $12,604,872 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on ADP shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

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.