California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,051,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,313 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.50% of Automatic Data Processing worth $478,009,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 9.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,127 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC IL lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 15.5% during the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC IL now owns 1,387 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 14.7% during the third quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 now owns 2,350 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $565,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 10.8% during the third quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,779 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bellecapital International Ltd. raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% during the third quarter. Bellecapital International Ltd. now owns 21,150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,088,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ADP. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America raised Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $217.00 to $243.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $254.58.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:ADP traded up $3.00 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $246.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,328,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,810,447. The company has a market capitalization of $101.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.78. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $201.46 and a 12 month high of $256.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $247.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $239.19.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 95.22%. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 65.19%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $2,776,585.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 19,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,876,970. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.43, for a total value of $173,104.42. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,159,958.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $2,776,585.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 19,906 shares in the company, valued at $4,876,970. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,162 shares of company stock valued at $3,741,859. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing 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.