Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Sells 8,444 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Key Points

• Gulf International Bank UK Ltd reduced its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. by 26.6%, selling 8,444 shares to hold a total of 23,327 shares, valued at approximately $7.13 million.
• Institutional investors that increased their positions in Automatic Data Processing include Vanguard Group, which raised its stake by 0.5%, and Northern Trust Corp, which boosted holdings by 17.1%.
• Automatic Data Processing declared a quarterly dividend of $1.54 per share, with an upcoming payment date of October 1st, representing an annualized dividend yield of 2.1%.

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd decreased its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 26.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 23,327 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 8,444 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $7,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,949,884 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $12,511,418,000 after purchasing an additional 218,614 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,174,419 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,807,438,000 after acquiring an additional 902,354 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,136,763 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,796,415,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,390 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,031,713 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,231,809,000 after purchasing an additional 145,161 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,830,078 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,115,909,000 after purchasing an additional 549,132 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Mizuho increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, TD Securities raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $314.33.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 1.3%

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $299.63 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $307.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $305.54. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $259.08 and a one year high of $329.93. The company has a market capitalization of $121.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.81.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 72.84% and a net margin of 19.84%. The company had revenue of $5.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio is 61.72%.

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.

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