Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC Decreases Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC trimmed its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,381 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $4,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 34,655.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,901,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $886,345,000 after purchasing an additional 2,892,660 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $455,993,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $396,714,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted 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 valued at $1,796,415,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $342,942,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $306.82 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $124.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.99, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s fifty day moving average is $308.06 and its 200 day moving average is $302.85. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $329.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. The company 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.88 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing 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 directly owns 7,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. The trade was a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was 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 $3,686,852.74. This trade represents a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. 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, June 5th. TD Securities boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $306.82.

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.