Madison Investment Advisors LLC Invests $37.13 Million in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 126,846 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $37,132,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,334,580 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,098,541,000 after buying an additional 424,328 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,517,642 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,906,257,000 after acquiring an additional 286,080 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,238,526 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $896,197,000 after acquiring an additional 41,709 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,120,039 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $910,972,000 after acquiring an additional 449,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,321,849 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $679,675,000 after acquiring an additional 69,042 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $296.18.

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Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ ADP opened at $294.18 on Thursday. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $302.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $294.33. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $322.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.87 billion, a PE ratio of 30.68, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total transaction of $305,322.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,961. This trade represents a 14.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

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.

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