EP Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 11.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,487 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,353 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $6,583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth about $708,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 529,690 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $146,581,000 after purchasing an additional 22,766 shares during the last quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 121.7% in the 4th quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 12,898 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,776,000 after buying an additional 7,080 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 67.9% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 6,292 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,805,000 after buying an additional 2,545 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 228,973 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $63,363,000 after buying an additional 2,203 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $305.18 on Thursday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $297.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $298.95. The company has a market cap of $123.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.82, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $322.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.88 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is 63.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $296.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $303.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 478 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total value of $140,120.92. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. This represents a 6.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the completion of 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,451 shares of company stock worth $743,024. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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