1,387 Shares in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Acquired by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,387 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $390,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,731,270 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $11,923,265,000 after purchasing an additional 277,324 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,583,607 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,098,305,000 after buying an additional 65,965 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 902,354 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,136,763 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,796,415,000 after buying an additional 1,299,390 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,886,552 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,137,710,000 after purchasing an additional 219,032 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ:ADP traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $326.21. The stock had a trading volume of 1,229,917 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,704,466. 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 $327.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $304.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $302.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.88 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 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, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is 63.05%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 478 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total value of $140,120.92. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. This represents a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction of $458,070.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,451 shares of company stock valued at $743,024. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $305.64.

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.