Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Has $3.34 Million Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lowered its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,074 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,127 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $3,341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $640,712,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264,202 shares in the last quarter. BlueSpruce Investments LP acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter worth $365,757,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 28,478.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,194,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,305,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190,407 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 238.1% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 784,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $195,797,000 after purchasing an additional 552,096 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 242.4% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 644,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $153,749,000 after purchasing an additional 456,027 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total value of $228,927.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,816,946. This trade represents a 7.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $297.64 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $287.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $263.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $227.12 and a 12 month high of $309.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.08 EPS. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 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 $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 59.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

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.