Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 2,107 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky trimmed its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,671 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,107 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $8,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the third 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 last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $298.75 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.73 billion, a PE ratio of 31.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $296.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $271.03. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $227.12 and a twelve month high of $309.63.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.74%.

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.