Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 22.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,682,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 789,297 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.66% of Automatic Data Processing worth $785,255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,731,270 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,923,265,000 after purchasing an additional 277,324 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,583,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,098,305,000 after purchasing an additional 65,965 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,886,552 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,137,710,000 after purchasing an additional 219,032 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,120,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $910,972,000 after acquiring an additional 449,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $679,675,000 after acquiring an additional 69,042 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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 owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This trade represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total value of $305,322.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,961. This represents a 14.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,364 shares of company stock worth $1,613,094 in the last quarter. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 6.3 %

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $286.13 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $322.84. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $304.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $297.30. The company has a market capitalization of $116.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 64.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ADP shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.30.

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.