Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Sells 88 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA decreased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,310 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 88 shares during the quarter. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,267,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlueSpruce Investments LP purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter worth $365,757,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth $308,321,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,543,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $825,487,000 after purchasing an additional 649,791 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 27.7% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,715,382 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $678,601,000 after purchasing an additional 589,831 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 238.1% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 784,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $195,797,000 after purchasing an additional 552,096 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADP has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $282.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $265.36.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $872,254.02. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 41,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,440,548.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $872,254.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 41,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,440,548.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at $9,899,862.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 58,817 shares of company stock worth $15,999,208 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of ADP stock opened at $275.91 on Thursday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $205.53 and a fifty-two week high of $281.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.93 billion, a PE ratio of 30.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $263.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $251.11.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 89.20%. The company had revenue of $4.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.50%.

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.