Retirement Systems of Alabama Reduces Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 228,937 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,404 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.06% of Automatic Data Processing worth $69,947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Main Street Group LTD increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 50.7% during the fourth quarter. Main Street Group LTD now owns 113 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% during the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 58.1% during the 1st quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 117 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP opened at $306.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $309.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $302.93. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $329.93. The firm has a market cap of $124.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 77.33% and a net margin of 19.79%. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.88 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ADP. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total transaction of $140,120.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. This trade represents a 6.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.