Blue Chip Partners LLC Raises Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Blue Chip Partners LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Blue Chip Partners LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,965,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ADP. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Evolution Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 106.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 173 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $258.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $2,776,585.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 19,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,876,970. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $485,520.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 17,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,380,645. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $2,776,585.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,876,970. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,162 shares of company stock valued at $3,741,859 over the last 90 days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of ADP opened at $243.94 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $205.53 and a 12-month high of $256.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $246.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $239.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.78.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 95.22%. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.19%.

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.