Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC Increases Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC increased its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 14.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,280 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at $455,993,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth about $396,714,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,136,763 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,796,415,000 after buying an additional 1,299,390 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth $342,942,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 41,710.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,090,422 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $319,199,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087,814 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. This trade represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,451 shares of company stock valued at $743,024. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $296.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $303.55.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ ADP opened at $308.01 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $297.34 and its 200 day moving average is $299.24. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $322.84. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $125.03 billion, a PE ratio of 32.12, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.88 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.05%.

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.