Suncoast Equity Management Increases Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Suncoast Equity Management boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 97,016 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 767 shares during the period. Automatic Data Processing accounts for approximately 3.0% of Suncoast Equity Management’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Suncoast Equity Management’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $22,602,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ADP. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,010,014 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,629,852,000 after buying an additional 794,328 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,670,083 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,085,849,000 after acquiring an additional 198,008 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 94,265.5% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,770,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,617,256,000 after purchasing an additional 6,763,553 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 5.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,902,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,420,028,000 after purchasing an additional 288,234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,242,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,261,327,000 after purchasing an additional 77,187 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ ADP traded up $1.21 on Tuesday, reaching $245.29. 471,654 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,819,856. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $201.46 and a 12 month high of $256.84. The company has a market cap of $100.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.41, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $247.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $239.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.96 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. 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 2.28%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.19%.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $215,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,071,250. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $2,776,585.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 19,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,876,970. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,071,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,162 shares of company stock valued at $3,741,859 over the last ninety days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on ADP. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Bank of America upgraded Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $254.58.

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.