Sanders Morris Harris LLC Purchases Shares of 2,450 Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Sanders Morris Harris LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $536,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arlington Partners LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Regal Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,208,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,368 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 4.0% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,204,418 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $268,140,000 after acquiring an additional 46,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 338 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADP has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $240.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Tuesday, September 5th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $267.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $235.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $249.57.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $245.31 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $246.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $226.83. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $201.46 and a 1-year high of $274.92. The firm has a market cap of $101.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The business services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $4.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.39 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 107.15% and a net margin of 18.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 7th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 60.98%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 17,326 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.03, for a total transaction of $4,418,649.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 70,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,051,533.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 17,326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.03, for a total value of $4,418,649.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 70,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,051,533.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 7,049 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.75, for a total transaction of $1,795,732.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 67,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,079,459. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 170,089 shares of company stock valued at $42,719,064. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.