Krane Funds Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Krane Funds Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,751 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 139 shares during the period. Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $455,993,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth $342,942,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 41,710.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,090,422 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $319,199,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087,814 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,120,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $910,972,000 after acquiring an additional 449,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 1,029.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 420,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $132,429,000 after acquiring an additional 383,057 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $286.13 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $322.84. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $304.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $297.30.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. On average, analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 64.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,007.90. The trade was a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. This represents a 11.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,364 shares of company stock worth $1,613,094 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.