Avanza Fonder AB Decreases Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Avanza Fonder AB reduced its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 9.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,679 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,779 shares during the quarter. Avanza Fonder AB’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $8,504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,731,270 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,923,265,000 after buying an additional 277,324 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 worth $3,098,305,000 after buying an additional 65,965 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,174,419 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,807,438,000 after buying an additional 902,354 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,136,763 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,796,415,000 after buying an additional 1,299,390 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,886,552 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,137,710,000 after buying an additional 219,032 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $318.57 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business’s 50 day moving average is $306.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $302.73. The company has a market cap of $129.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $329.93.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.88 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ADP shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. TD Securities increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $305.64.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total value of $140,120.92. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,158,682.96. The trade was a 6.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. This represents a 11.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.