Two Sigma Advisers LP Lowers Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Two Sigma Advisers LP cut its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 158,500 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 12,700 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $46,398,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,731,270 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $11,923,265,000 after purchasing an additional 277,324 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,583,607 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,098,305,000 after acquiring an additional 65,965 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,174,419 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,807,438,000 after acquiring an additional 902,354 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,136,763 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,796,415,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,390 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,886,552 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,137,710,000 after acquiring an additional 219,032 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ADP. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, TD Securities raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $296.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $303.55.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction of $458,070.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 473 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. This trade represents a 6.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,451 shares of company stock valued at $743,024. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $322.96 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $328.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.10 billion, a PE ratio of 33.68, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $298.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $300.38.

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

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.05%.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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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