Consolidated Planning Corp Makes New Investment in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Consolidated Planning Corp acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 13,571 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,146,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ADP. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,731,270 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $11,923,265,000 after purchasing an additional 277,324 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 65,965 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,174,419 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,807,438,000 after purchasing an additional 902,354 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% in the 4th 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 purchasing 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. UBS Group reduced 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. Mizuho raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $307.08.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.2%

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $306.26 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $124.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.35, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $309.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $302.95. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $329.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.88 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is 63.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. This represents a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 478 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total value of $140,120.92. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. This trade represents a 6.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

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.

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