Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $7.36 Million Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 354 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $7,362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,769,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,932,020,000 after acquiring an additional 173,298 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,492,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,279,570,000 after purchasing an additional 249,566 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,625,186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $905,354,000 after purchasing an additional 81,869 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 27.7% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,715,382 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $678,601,000 after buying an additional 589,831 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,556,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $610,182,000 after buying an additional 9,464 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total value of $872,254.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 41,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,440,548.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the transaction, the director now owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,899,862.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 58,817 shares of company stock valued at $15,999,208 over the last 90 days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $275.91 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $112.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $263.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $251.11. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $205.53 and a one year high of $281.54.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 89.20%. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on ADP shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased 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 note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com raised Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $265.36.

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.