Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV Buys 55 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,224 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 11,334 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,318,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Sentinus LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Sentinus LLC now owns 1,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $453,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 3,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,079,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC now owns 593 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $174,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Delta Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC now owns 14,572 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,266,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ADP shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. TD Securities increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $306.82.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $307.91 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.11, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $329.93. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $308.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $302.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.88 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 63.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total value of $140,120.92. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,364 shares in the company, valued at $2,158,682.96. This represents a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.