Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 386 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 28,023 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 386 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $8,203,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $708,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 280,961 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $77,750,000 after purchasing an additional 15,340 shares during the period. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth $470,000. Finally, Dash Acquisitions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 52,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,069,000 after purchasing an additional 2,781 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $311.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $298.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $289.74. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $313.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 64.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ADP shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.55.

Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total transaction of $210,236.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.