Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Purchases 39,500 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 149.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 66,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 39,500 shares during the period. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $19,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% in the fourth quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ADP. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total value of $305,322.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,961. The trade was a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the firm’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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. This trade represents a 11.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,368 shares of company stock valued at $1,903,541 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 6.3 %

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $286.13 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $304.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $297.03. 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 cap of $116.59 billion, a PE ratio of 29.84, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $322.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.23%.

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.