Stephens Inc. AR Has $7.90 Million Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 26,983 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $7,899,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADP opened at $305.97 on Monday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $311.67. The stock has a market cap of $124.67 billion, a PE ratio of 31.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $297.20 and a 200-day moving average of $286.66. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 64.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ADP shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.55.

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.