Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Cuts Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich decreased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,747 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $11,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth $886,000. Abbrea Capital LLC raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC now owns 5,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,177,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 4,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,052,000 after buying an additional 747 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth $424,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 45,178 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,525,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $215,750.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,285 shares in the company, valued at $2,071,250. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the vice president now owns 20,319 shares in the company, valued at $5,018,996.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $215,750.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,071,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,162 shares of company stock worth $3,741,859 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ADP. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $254.58.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP traded down $3.27 during trading on Friday, hitting $243.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,555,277 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,793,701. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $205.53 and a 12 month high of $256.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $246.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $239.31.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.19%.

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.