Fundsmith Investment Services LTD. Sells 114,621 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Fundsmith Investment Services LTD. decreased its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,720,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 114,621 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing makes up 6.5% of Fundsmith Investment Services LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Fundsmith Investment Services LTD. owned about 0.42% of Automatic Data Processing worth $503,518,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $455,993,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at $396,714,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,136,763 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,796,415,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,390 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth $342,942,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position 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 valued at $319,199,000 after buying an additional 1,087,814 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of ADP stock opened at $305.18 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $322.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $297.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $298.95.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. The business had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 63.05%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total value of $140,120.92. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. This represents a 6.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,451 shares of company stock valued at $743,024. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $303.55.

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.