Guardian Partners Inc. Invests $1.38 Million in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Guardian Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 4,710 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,375,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at $54,655,000. Umpqua Bank boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 3,485 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,017,000 after buying an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 308.8% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 379,692 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $111,151,000 after buying an additional 286,813 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 472,131 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $138,207,000 after buying an additional 54,263 shares during the period. Finally, Plancorp LLC increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 3,464 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,014,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP traded up $3.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $305.43. 1,373,585 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,465,299. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $303.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $296.02. The firm has a market cap of $124.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.85, 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. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $322.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 473 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,218,112.80. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ADP. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $302.30.

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.