Arizona State Retirement System Acquires 1,059 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 119,090 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,059 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $28,426,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Keener Financial Planning LLC increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 230.3% in the first quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter worth $33,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter worth $36,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $5,253,553.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,807 shares in the company, valued at $25,464,384.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $5,253,553.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,807 shares in the company, valued at $25,464,384.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,959,908.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 49,614 shares of company stock worth $13,519,460. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ADP. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Bank of America increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $265.36.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADP opened at $269.36 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $255.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $249.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $205.53 and a 12-month high of $278.24. The firm has a market cap of $110.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.15, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.78.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 89.20%. The business had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

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.