State of Michigan Retirement System Decreases Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

State of Michigan Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 124,503 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $36,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $640,712,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264,202 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 41,710.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,090,422 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $319,199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087,814 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth $160,920,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 332.3% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 623,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $172,497,000 after purchasing an additional 479,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,334,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,098,541,000 after buying an additional 424,328 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on ADP shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total transaction of $305,322.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,961. This trade represents a 14.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 1.1 %

ADP stock opened at $318.64 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $129.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $301.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $292.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $320.50.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. Sell-side analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 64.23%.

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.