Castellan Group Makes New $709,000 Investment in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Key Points

• Castellan Group has acquired 2,322 shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP), valued at approximately $709,000.
• Several hedge funds have increased their stakes in ADP, with Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosting its stake by 29.6% in the first quarter.
• Automatic Data Processing reported a 6.3% year-over-year revenue increase to $5.13 billion and exceeded earnings expectations with an EPS of $2.26.

Castellan Group purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,322 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $709,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 29.6% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 565 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $173,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,495 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,901,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 236,707 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $69,290,000 after purchasing an additional 21,910 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 250,836 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $76,638,000 after acquiring an additional 20,467 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 92.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,026 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,935,000 after acquiring an additional 4,808 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock traded down $9.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $300.44. 1,791,558 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,385,865. The stock has a market cap of $121.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.10, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.05. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $256.47 and a twelve month high of $329.93. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $310.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $305.26.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 72.84% and a net margin of 19.84%. The business had revenue of $5.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on ADP. TD Securities raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Automatic Data Processing to a "hold" rating and set a $340.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $314.33.

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.