Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Increases Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 4.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,074 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,437 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $17,132,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in 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 worth $886,345,000 after acquiring an additional 2,892,660 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at about $455,993,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at about $396,714,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,299,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth about $342,942,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 478 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total value of $140,120.92. Following the sale, the vice president owned 7,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. This trade represents a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on ADP. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $307.08.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock traded up $1.73 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $310.13. The company had a trading volume of 1,496,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,713,179. The firm has a market cap of $125.89 billion, a PE ratio of 31.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $329.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $311.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $303.19.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 77.33% and a net margin of 19.79%. The business had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.88 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.05%.

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.