Challenger Wealth Management Makes New $1.52 Million Investment in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Challenger Wealth Management purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 5,199 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,522,000. Automatic Data Processing comprises about 1.3% of Challenger Wealth Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ADP. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 277,324 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.6% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 65,965 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 17.1% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $1,796,415,000 after buying an additional 1,299,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at $3,686,852.74. This trade represents a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 473 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. This trade represents a 6.13% decrease in their position. 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $324.12. The company had a trading volume of 921,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,701,070. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $327.99. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $131.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.80, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $302.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $301.50.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.88 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. 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. Finally, TD Securities upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently 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.