Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 7,670 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 35.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,113 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 7,670 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $8,532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMG National Trust Bank raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 11,334 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,318,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Aspiriant LLC raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 2,372 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $694,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,009 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,466,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 3,686 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,079,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Riversedge Advisors LLC raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 916 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at $3,686,852.74. This trade represents a 11.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 478 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total value of $140,120.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. This represents a 6.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,451 shares of company stock worth $743,024 in the last quarter. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.6 %

ADP stock traded up $1.85 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $305.18. 2,013,030 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,688,964. The company has a market capitalization of $124.35 billion, a PE ratio of 31.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $322.84. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $297.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $298.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.88 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 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 report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $303.55.

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.