Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Buys 275 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,473 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $7,874,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at about $308,321,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 22,539.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 934,326 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $217,670,000 after acquiring an additional 930,199 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,543,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $825,487,000 after buying an additional 649,791 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,596,142 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,224,713,000 after acquiring an additional 412,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth about $74,595,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of ADP traded down $2.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $234.86. The company had a trading volume of 154,705 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,676,580. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $205.53 and a 1-year high of $256.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $244.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $243.78. The stock has a market cap of $96.13 billion, a PE ratio of 26.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.78.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.79 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 93.09%. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.52 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADP has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $254.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $255.42.

Automatic Data Processing 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.