Sunflower Bank N.A. Decreases Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Sunflower Bank N.A. trimmed its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,646 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 109 shares during the quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $775,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock traded up $3.35 on Monday, hitting $290.20. The stock had a trading volume of 1,809,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,523,564. The stock has a market cap of $118.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $298.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $278.61.

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

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $1.54 per share. 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 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,062 shares of company stock worth $12,299,550. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ADP shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Profile

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.