Sunbelt Securities Inc. Cuts Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,929 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 108 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,364,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.9% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 214,797 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $59,441,000 after buying an additional 4,061 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 13.1% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,299 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,043,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,517,642 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,906,257,000 after purchasing an additional 286,080 shares during the last quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth about $226,000. Finally, Executive Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth about $9,097,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ ADP opened at $300.75 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $296.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $270.83. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $227.12 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.10, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 59.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

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.