Suncoast Equity Management Acquires 767 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Suncoast Equity Management boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 97,016 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 767 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing makes up approximately 3.0% of Suncoast Equity Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Suncoast Equity Management’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $22,602,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,071,250. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,071,250. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total value of $90,899.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,319 shares in the company, valued at $5,018,996.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,162 shares of company stock valued at $3,741,859 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ADP. Bank of America raised shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $217.00 to $243.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $254.58.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:ADP traded up $1.21 on Tuesday, hitting $245.29. 471,654 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,819,856. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $201.46 and a 52 week high of $256.84. The company has a market cap of $100.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $247.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $239.13.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.