Sovereign s Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Sovereign s Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,523 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $446,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. WBI Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 83.1% in the 4th quarter. WBI Investments LLC now owns 8,846 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,590,000 after buying an additional 4,016 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth about $1,095,000. Texas Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth about $361,000. State of Wyoming lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 26.1% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 449 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 236,707 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $69,290,000 after buying an additional 21,910 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $321.09. The company had a trading volume of 962,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,702,406. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $323.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company's 50-day moving average is $301.13 and its 200-day moving average is $301.11. The company has a market capitalization of $130.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share (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 analysts' expectations of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. Automatic Data Processing's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on ADP shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. TD Securities upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $305.64.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 473 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. This trade represents a 6.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,451 shares of company stock valued at $743,024 over the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.