New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 6,427 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 322,435 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,427 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $94,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $310.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $126.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.35, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $311.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $297.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $287.85.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. Sell-side 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target 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. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. 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 report on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.55.

Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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. Insiders have sold a total of 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241 over the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.