Simmons Bank Cuts Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Simmons Bank trimmed its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 3.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,678 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 229 shares during the quarter. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 5,254 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,224,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.8% during the first quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 5,581 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,402,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.6% during the first quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 2,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 5,432 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,297,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Morningstar Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC now owns 2,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $634,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total value of $7,164,724.32. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at $23,959,908.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total transaction of $228,927.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,816,946. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at $23,959,908.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $253.00 to $251.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $265.36.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ ADP traded down $2.00 on Wednesday, reaching $272.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,359,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,649,340. The firm has a market cap of $111.61 billion, a PE ratio of 30.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $251.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $248.29. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $205.53 and a 52 week high of $276.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 89.20%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.01 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.50%.

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.