Swiss National Bank Sells 62,700 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Swiss National Bank lessened its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,152,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 62,700 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $337,254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. State Street Corp grew 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 worth $5,098,541,000 after purchasing an additional 424,328 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,517,642 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,906,257,000 after purchasing an additional 286,080 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,238,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $896,197,000 after buying an additional 41,709 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,120,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $910,972,000 after buying an additional 449,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,321,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $679,675,000 after buying an additional 69,042 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ADP shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued 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 given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.18.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders have sold 5,951 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,074 in the last 90 days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $294.18 on Thursday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $322.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $119.87 billion, a PE ratio of 30.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $302.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $294.33.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. Equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

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 $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.23%.

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.