New York State Common Retirement Fund Decreases Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 586,538 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 32,123 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.14% of Automatic Data Processing worth $162,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,769,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,932,020,000 after buying an additional 173,298 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,065,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $964,989,000 after acquiring an additional 435,093 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,625,186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $905,354,000 after purchasing an additional 81,869 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,548,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $846,912,000 after purchasing an additional 139,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 27.7% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,715,382 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $678,601,000 after acquiring an additional 589,831 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total value of $872,254.02. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 41,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,440,548.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total value of $228,927.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,816,946. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total value of $872,254.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 41,696 shares in the company, valued at $11,440,548.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 58,817 shares of company stock worth $15,999,208 in the last 90 days. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $282.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $282.00.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock traded down $2.00 during trading on Friday, hitting $287.24. 87,698 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,628,187. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $281.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $259.59. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $211.52 and a twelve month high of $294.18. The stock has a market cap of $117.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.87, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.13. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 59.77%.

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.