Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. Lowers Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. reduced its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 88,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,800 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing accounts for approximately 1.1% of Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $26,887,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ADP. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 277,324 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,583,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,098,305,000 after purchasing an additional 65,965 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,174,419 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,807,438,000 after purchasing an additional 902,354 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% during the 4th 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, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,886,552 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,137,710,000 after purchasing an additional 219,032 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total transaction of $140,120.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.4%

ADP stock opened at $311.40 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.40 billion, a PE ratio of 31.87, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $329.93. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $310.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $303.05.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 77.33% and a net margin of 19.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 63.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ADP. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.08.

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.