Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Raises Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 106,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,424 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $25,337,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ADP. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,360,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 5.0% in the second quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.8% in the first quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 5,581 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,402,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patron Partners LLC boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.6% in the first quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 2,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $683,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP opened at $276.41 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $264.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $251.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $113.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $205.53 and a 12-month high of $281.54.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 89.20% and a net margin of 19.54%. The firm had revenue of $4.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business 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 2.03%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $5,253,553.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,464,384.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total value of $2,479,748.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at $9,899,862.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 58,817 shares of company stock valued at $15,999,208. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADP has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $265.36.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.