Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Acquires 2,374 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 20.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,196 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,374 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing accounts for 0.7% of Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.'s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $4,337,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ADP. Main Street Group LTD increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 50.7% in the 4th quarter. Main Street Group LTD now owns 113 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% during the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. This represents a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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 dated Thursday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total value of $140,120.92. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,451 shares of company stock worth $743,024. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP stock traded up $0.58 during trading on Friday, reaching $326.81. The company had a trading volume of 1,183,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,707,618. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $329.78. The company has a market capitalization of $132.66 billion, a PE ratio of 34.08, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. 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 firm's 50 day simple moving average is $305.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $302.43.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. Automatic Data Processing's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on ADP. TD Securities boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, 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 note on Thursday. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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.