Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Takes $52.49 Million Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 179,321 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $52,493,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Grassi Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $227,000. Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at about $200,000. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 46.8% in the fourth quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,239 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $948,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 2,451 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $717,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the period. Finally, XML Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth about $205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of ADP traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $325.44. 394,539 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,700,400. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock's 50-day moving average is $302.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $301.34. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $329.12. The stock has a market cap of $132.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. The company had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.88 EPS. Automatic Data Processing's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on ADP shares. TD Securities boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $305.64.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 473 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. This trade represents a 6.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,451 shares of company stock worth $743,024 in the last 90 days. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.