Raymond James & Associates Boosts Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 3.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 946,571 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 27,510 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned about 0.23% of Automatic Data Processing worth $236,397,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,596,142 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $9,224,713,000 after purchasing an additional 412,434 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,670,083 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,085,849,000 after purchasing an additional 198,008 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 5.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,902,520 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,420,028,000 after purchasing an additional 288,234 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,492,425 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,279,570,000 after purchasing an additional 249,566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 18.3% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,576,575 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $855,287,000 after purchasing an additional 553,946 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP traded down $3.27 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $243.07. 1,555,489 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,384,926. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $205.53 and a 1 year high of $256.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $246.70 and a 200 day moving average of $239.19.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 95.22%. The firm had revenue of $4.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio is 65.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ADP. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Automatic Data Processing from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $254.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total value of $90,899.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,018,996.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total transaction of $90,899.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,018,996.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $2,776,585.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,906 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,876,970. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,162 shares of company stock valued at $3,741,859. 0.26% of the stock is 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.