Bessemer Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Bessemer Group Inc. cut its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 6.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 229,587 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 15,984 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. owned about 0.06% of Automatic Data Processing worth $70,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 34,655.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,901,007 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $886,345,000 after purchasing an additional 2,892,660 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at about $455,993,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at about $396,714,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,136,763 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,796,415,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth about $342,942,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on ADP. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of 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. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $307.08.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $303.45. 1,931,112 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,714,766. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $310.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $303.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.18 billion, a PE ratio of 31.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $329.93.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.88 EPS. The business's revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 478 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,158,682.96. This represents a 6.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of Automatic Data Processing 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 directly owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at $3,686,852.74. This represents a 11.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

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.