Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 16.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,923 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,548 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $3,337,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in 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 valued at $886,345,000 after buying an additional 2,892,660 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $455,993,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $396,714,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,136,763 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,796,415,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $342,942,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. TD Securities boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $305.64.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.8%

ADP traded down $2.61 during trading on Thursday, hitting $309.75. 1,798,851 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,703,092. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $306.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $302.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $231.27 and a 12-month high of $329.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.30, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.88 EPS. The company's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of Automatic Data Processing 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $140,120.92. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,364 shares in the company, valued at $2,158,682.96. This trade represents a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.