USS Investment Management Ltd cut its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 92,830 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,067 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $27,178,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,731,270 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $11,923,265,000 after purchasing an additional 277,324 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,583,607 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,098,305,000 after purchasing an additional 65,965 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 902,354 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position 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. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of 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.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
ADP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $303.55.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Automatic Data Processing
Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing
In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 478 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total value of $140,120.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. This trade represents a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. This represents a 11.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,451 shares of company stock valued at $743,024 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.
Automatic Data Processing Price Performance
Shares of ADP stock opened at $322.96 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $131.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $298.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $300.38. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $328.00.
Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.88 EPS. The company's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.
Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is 63.05%.
About Automatic Data Processing
(
Free Report)
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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