Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Sold by State of Tennessee Department of Treasury

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lessened its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 157,197 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,746 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $46,016,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% during the fourth quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on ADP. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays boosted their target price on 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 stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was 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 directly owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. This trade represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,775 shares of company stock valued at $1,447,893 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $284.85 on Tuesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $231.27 and a 12-month 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 company has a market capitalization of $116.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $300.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $298.30.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. On average, research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.23%.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.