Spire Wealth Management Sells 6,731 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Spire Wealth Management cut its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 70.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,731 shares during the quarter. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.5% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 83,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,989,000 after purchasing an additional 5,077 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 15.5% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 12,551 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 16.3% during the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 2,251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $623,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% during the third quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 97,348 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,939,000 after purchasing an additional 1,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 36.6% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $304.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $297.22 and a 200-day moving average of $285.26. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $311.67. The company has a market cap of $124.14 billion, a PE ratio of 31.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 64.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ADP. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,077,721.04. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241. Company 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.