GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Grows Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,491 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $9,316,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Main Street Group LTD grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 50.7% during the 4th quarter. Main Street Group LTD now owns 113 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Abound Wealth Management lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 58.1% during the first quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 117 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% during the fourth quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $310.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $125.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.75, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business’s 50 day moving average is $309.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $302.99. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $329.93.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.79% and a return on equity of 77.33%. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.88 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 63.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total transaction of $140,120.92. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,364 shares in the company, valued at $2,158,682.96. This trade represents a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ADP. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Mizuho raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.08.

Automatic Data Processing 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.