Guardian Investment Management Sells 1,300 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Guardian Investment Management trimmed its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 59.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 900 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,300 shares during the quarter. Guardian Investment Management's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 34,655.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,901,007 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $886,345,000 after purchasing an additional 2,892,660 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth $455,993,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth $396,714,000. 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, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at $342,942,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, June 5th. TD Securities lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. 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 note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $307.08.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ ADP traded up $1.73 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $310.13. 1,496,554 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,713,179. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $311.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $303.19. The stock has a market cap of $125.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.74, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $329.93.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 77.33% and a net margin of 19.79%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.88 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 478 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total transaction of $140,120.92. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 7,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,158,682.96. The trade was a 6.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

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.