Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 907 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 17.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,118 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 907 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 277,324 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 worth $3,098,305,000 after acquiring an additional 65,965 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 902,354 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in 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, Invesco Ltd. grew 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 valued at $1,137,710,000 after purchasing an additional 219,032 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $326.44. 274,272 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,702,007. The firm has a market cap of $132.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.04, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $305.14 and a 200 day moving average of $302.23. 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 $327.99.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.88 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is presently 63.05%.

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 Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 11.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,451 shares of company stock valued at $743,024. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group upped 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, TD Securities upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $305.64.

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.