Bison Wealth LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Bison Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 57.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,531 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 159 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 8,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 3,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $857,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.5% during the third quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 8,292 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,995,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, PFS Investments Inc. increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. PFS Investments Inc. now owns 1,396 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $244.21 on Wednesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $201.46 and a 12-month high of $256.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $100.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $247.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $239.16.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 95.22% and a net margin of 19.14%. The company had revenue of $4.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Bank of America raised shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $254.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $2,776,585.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,876,970. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $215,750.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares in the company, valued at $2,071,250. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $2,776,585.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 19,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,876,970. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,162 shares of company stock worth $3,741,859 in the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.