GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Purchases 176 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,364 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $8,888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ADP. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 72.0% during the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 2,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $818,000 after purchasing an additional 1,169 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $1,243,000. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 108.8% during the fourth quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,024 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,763,000 after purchasing an additional 3,139 shares in the last quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,773 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $812,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 57,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,802,000 after purchasing an additional 10,760 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 1.1 %

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $308.15 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $125.56 billion, a PE ratio of 32.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $311.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $297.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $285.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ADP. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.55.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.