Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Cuts Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lowered its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,066 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,686 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $13,621,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 180,658 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,122,000 after buying an additional 5,061 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 10.5% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 23,897 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,704,000 after purchasing an additional 2,278 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 3.3% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 8,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,916,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 53.4% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 61,137 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,593,000 after purchasing an additional 21,279 shares during the period. Finally, MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter worth approximately $296,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of ADP opened at $276.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $264.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $251.56. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $205.53 and a 1 year high of $281.54. The firm has a market cap of $113.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 89.20%. The business had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.50%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total value of $872,254.02. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 41,696 shares in the company, valued at $11,440,548.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $872,254.02. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 41,696 shares in the company, valued at $11,440,548.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total value of $2,479,748.35. Following the sale, the director now owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 58,817 shares of company stock worth $15,999,208. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ADP shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $282.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $265.36.

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.