BDF Gestion Sells 2,410 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

BDF Gestion lowered its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 18,552 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,410 shares during the period. BDF Gestion’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $5,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,334,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,098,541,000 after acquiring an additional 424,328 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,517,642 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,906,257,000 after purchasing an additional 286,080 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,238,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $896,197,000 after purchasing an additional 41,709 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $640,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,202 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,252,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $623,419,000 after purchasing an additional 17,717 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ADP shares. Mizuho increased 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen raised 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. Two investment 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $291.27.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $300.57 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $283.65. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $311.67. The firm has a market cap of $122.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. Sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.74%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total transaction of $305,322.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,961. The trade was a 14.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,129 shares of company stock worth $12,604,872 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.