Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 46.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,032 shares during the quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $948,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, 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 sale, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 42,129 shares of company stock valued at $12,604,872. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.6 %

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $296.36 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $297.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $281.46. The stock has a market cap of $120.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.63, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ADP shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

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.