J. W. Coons Advisors LLC Sells 245 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

J. W. Coons Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 245 shares during the quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $3,108,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on 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 increased 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 note on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the sale, the director now owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,899,862.45. This represents a 20.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total transaction of $228,927.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,816,946. This trade represents a 7.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 97,792 shares of company stock worth $27,691,708 in the last 90 days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $297.64 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $121.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.77, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $287.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $264.14. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $227.12 and a 52 week high of $309.37.

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

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 65.74%.

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.