State of Alaska Department of Revenue Sells 910 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue decreased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 46,465 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 910 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $13,601,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 1,054 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2.1% in the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Aspiriant LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 2,372 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $694,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,466,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Petredis Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,902,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 1.1 %

ADP stock opened at $308.15 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $125.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $311.67. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $297.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $285.67. 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 (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 64.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at $929,007.90. The trade was a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,756,961. This represents a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.55.

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.