Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Sells 112,279 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec decreased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 36.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 192,335 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 112,279 shares during the quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $42,820,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signet Financial Management LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 3,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $857,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. PFS Investments Inc. raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. PFS Investments Inc. now owns 1,396 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,175 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $929,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 2,986 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $713,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stokes Family Office LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 4,595 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,098,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.37% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP opened at $250.12 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $103.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $242.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $225.78. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $201.46 and a 1-year high of $274.92.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The business services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.39 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 107.15% and a net margin of 18.94%. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 7th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $240.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $240.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Friday, June 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $230.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $275.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $249.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 7,049 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.75, for a total transaction of $1,795,732.75. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 67,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,079,459. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 17,326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.03, for a total transaction of $4,418,649.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 70,782 shares in the company, valued at $18,051,533.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 7,049 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.75, for a total value of $1,795,732.75. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 67,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,079,459. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 58,971 shares of company stock worth $15,023,007. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing 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.