Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. Has $5.55 Million Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. lessened its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 290 shares during the period. Automatic Data Processing makes up approximately 1.3% of Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $5,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,334,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,098,541,000 after buying an additional 424,328 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,517,642 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,906,257,000 after acquiring an additional 286,080 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,238,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $896,197,000 after purchasing an additional 41,709 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $640,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,202 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,252,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $623,419,000 after purchasing an additional 17,717 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ADP. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. 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, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.55.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ ADP opened at $305.97 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $124.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $311.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business’s fifty day moving average is $297.20 and its 200 day moving average is $286.39.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.