Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC Has $202,000 Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 690 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 57 shares during the quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on ADP. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total value of $305,322.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,961. This trade represents a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $308.15 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $125.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $297.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $285.67. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $311.67.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. On average, equities analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.23%.

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.