Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Has $9.44 Million Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp lowered its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 31.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,538 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 18,590 shares during the quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $9,444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 22,539.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 934,326 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $217,670,000 after acquiring an additional 930,199 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 40.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,128,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $752,703,000 after buying an additional 905,043 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 65.5% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,402,511 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $337,416,000 after buying an additional 555,184 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,576,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $855,287,000 after buying an additional 553,946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth about $107,401,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $246.14. The company had a trading volume of 118,751 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,782,449. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $201.46 and a twelve month high of $256.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $101.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $247.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $239.26.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 95.22% and a net margin of 19.14%. The firm had revenue of $4.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 65.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total value of $90,899.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,018,996.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total transaction of $90,899.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,018,996.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $2,776,585.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,876,970. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,162 shares of company stock valued at $3,741,859. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Mizuho raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Wolfe Research raised Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $254.58.

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.