Sabal Trust CO Acquires 200 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Sabal Trust CO grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,917 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Sabal Trust CO’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $561,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of ADP opened at $311.21 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $299.84 and a 200 day moving average of $291.39. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $315.29. The firm has a market cap of $126.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.55.

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.