Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 11,889 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 4.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 231,745 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,889 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.06% of Automatic Data Processing worth $64,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ ADP traded down $0.15 on Friday, hitting $297.06. The company had a trading volume of 44,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,637,782. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $121.04 billion, a PE ratio of 31.88, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $227.12 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $296.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $271.23.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on 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 boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.