Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank trimmed its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,214,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.30% of Automatic Data Processing worth $336,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $640,712,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264,202 shares in the last quarter. BlueSpruce Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter worth $365,757,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 28,478.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,194,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,305,780,000 after buying an additional 1,190,407 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 238.1% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 784,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $195,797,000 after buying an additional 552,096 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 242.4% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 644,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $153,749,000 after buying an additional 456,027 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total value of $7,164,724.32. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at $23,959,908.96. This trade represents a 23.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $872,254.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 41,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,440,548.48. This trade represents a 7.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 1.4 %

ADP opened at $297.64 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $227.12 and a fifty-two week high of $309.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a fifty day moving average of $287.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $264.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.77, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

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

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.