Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 277,324 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,731,270 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 277,324 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.00% of Automatic Data Processing worth $11,923,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ADP. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 3.1% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 571,969 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $158,281,000 after acquiring an additional 16,987 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth about $209,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 11.0% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 75,556 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $20,909,000 after buying an additional 7,477 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at $659,000. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at approximately $754,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP traded up $3.02 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $305.43. 1,373,585 shares of the company's stock 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 stock has a market cap of $124.45 billion, a PE ratio of 31.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $322.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is 64.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target 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, StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $302.30.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total transaction of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at $20,077,721.04. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,004 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.29, for a total transaction of $290,447.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,958 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,723,589.82. The trade was a 14.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

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.