Cardinal Capital Management Boosts Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Cardinal Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 5.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,332 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,256 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing accounts for approximately 1.7% of Cardinal Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Cardinal Capital Management’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $10,627,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at $308,321,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 22,539.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 934,326 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $217,670,000 after purchasing an additional 930,199 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 649,791 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 18.3% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,576,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $855,287,000 after purchasing an additional 553,946 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,596,142 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,224,713,000 after purchasing an additional 412,434 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock traded down $0.72 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $237.30. The company had a trading volume of 1,811,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,686,002. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $205.53 and a 12-month high of $256.84. The company’s fifty day moving average is $245.98 and its 200-day moving average is $243.79. The company has a market capitalization of $97.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.78.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 prior year, the firm posted $2.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.18 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADP has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $253.00 to $251.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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 report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $255.42.

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.