Colonial Trust Advisors Acquires 1,600 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. $ADP

Colonial Trust Advisors raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 95.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,280 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors’ holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,002,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Sentinus LLC grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Sentinus LLC now owns 1,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 779 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 3,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,079,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Detalus Advisors LLC grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% in the first quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 1,566 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $478,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Group LTD grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 50.7% in the fourth quarter. Main Street Group LTD now owns 113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of ADP opened at $302.65 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.33, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $305.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $305.62. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $262.88 and a 52 week high of $329.93.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 72.84% and a net margin of 19.84%. The business had revenue of $5.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ADP. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Automatic Data Processing to a “hold” rating and set a $340.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.33.

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.