Verity & Verity LLC Invests $386,000 in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Verity & Verity LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,618 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $386,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ADP. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 230.3% during the first quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at $23,959,908.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,959,908.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total transaction of $228,927.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,816,946. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 58,817 shares of company stock worth $15,999,208. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $280.08 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $114.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.26, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $268.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $253.22. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $205.53 and a one year 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 89.20% and a net margin of 19.54%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 62.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $267.83.

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.