Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Cuts Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lessened its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 11.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 94,817 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 12,000 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $27,756,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ADP. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on ADP. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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, January 30th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.55.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.4 %

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $310.76 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $313.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $126.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.40, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $298.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $290.32.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. Equities research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.23%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total value of $305,322.05. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,961. This represents a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.