Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Takes $24.97 Million Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 91,715 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $24,969,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% in the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP traded up $1.65 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $304.98. The stock had a trading volume of 796,496 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,682,284. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $322.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.83, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company's 50-day moving average price is $297.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $298.91.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.88 EPS. The company's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.05%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 478 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 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. The trade was a 11.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,451 shares of company stock valued at $743,024 over the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target 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 objective on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $303.55.

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.