Belmont Capital LLC Sells 2,167 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Belmont Capital LLC decreased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 50.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,115 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,167 shares during the quarter. Belmont Capital LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $585,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ADP. Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 3.9% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 21,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,965,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 86,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $24,051,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 7,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,056,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 12,351 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,418,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,561 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ADP shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $297.89 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $287.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $264.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $227.12 and a 1 year high of $309.37. The firm has a market cap of $121.38 billion, a PE ratio of 31.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 65.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,959,908.96. This represents a 23.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,899,862.45. The trade was a 20.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing 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.