Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Purchased by Capital Investment Advisors LLC

Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 3.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,892 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,731,270 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,923,265,000 after buying an additional 277,324 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,583,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,098,305,000 after buying an additional 65,965 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,174,419 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,807,438,000 after buying an additional 902,354 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,136,763 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,796,415,000 after buying an additional 1,299,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,886,552 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,137,710,000 after buying an additional 219,032 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total transaction of $140,120.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. This trade represents a 6.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction of $458,070.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,686,852.74. This trade represents a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on ADP. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $305.64.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $326.81 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $305.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $302.64. 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 company has a market capitalization of $132.66 billion, a PE ratio of 34.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $329.93.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. The business had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.88 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.05%.

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.