Ritholtz Wealth Management Grows Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 18.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,109 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,663 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $7,060,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. AMG National Trust Bank increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 11,334 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,318,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Sentinus LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Sentinus LLC now owns 1,548 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 3,686 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,079,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC now owns 593 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $174,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Delta Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC now owns 14,572 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,266,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 478 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $458,070.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares of the company's stock, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Securities increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $306.82.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.4%

ADP traded up $1.26 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $308.08. 295,479 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,777,628. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $308.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $302.85. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $329.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

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 paid 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 2.00%. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.05%.

About Automatic Data Processing

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.