Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Stock Position Raised by Morningstar Investment Management LLC

Morningstar Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 46 shares during the quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $634,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ADP. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 5.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,902,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,420,028,000 after purchasing an additional 288,234 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,242,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,261,327,000 after acquiring an additional 77,187 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,576,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $855,287,000 after acquiring an additional 553,946 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,543,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $825,487,000 after acquiring an additional 649,791 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 40.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,128,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $752,703,000 after purchasing an additional 905,043 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ADP. Barclays increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $253.00 to $251.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $254.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $255.42.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ ADP traded up $0.11 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $245.78. 1,298,317 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,675,672. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $205.53 and a 1-year high of $256.84. The company has a market cap of $100.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $245.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $242.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.79 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 93.09% and a net margin of 19.56%. The business had revenue of $5.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.52 EPS. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.17 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.50%.

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.