D.B. Root & Company LLC Has $4.63 Million Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

D.B. Root & Company LLC lessened its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 16,732 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,085 shares during the period. Automatic Data Processing accounts for approximately 1.5% of D.B. Root & Company LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. D.B. Root & Company LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $4,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 4.4% during the first quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 1,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 16,991 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,243,000 after purchasing an additional 1,654 shares in the last quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 1,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 15,089 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,768,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 49.2% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 24,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,996,000 after buying an additional 7,921 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $305.18 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $282.92 and a 200-day moving average of $261.11. The company has a market cap of $124.46 billion, a PE ratio of 32.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $219.21 and a one year high of $306.71.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The business 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 revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.77%.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of Automatic Data Processing 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 sale, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,959,908.96. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total value of $228,927.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,816,946. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,959,908.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 58,817 shares of company stock worth $15,999,208 in the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ADP shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Mizuho increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

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.