Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. Sells 46 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,844 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 46 shares during the quarter. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $540,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on ADP shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 19th. Finally, TD Cowen upped 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.91.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,129 shares of company stock worth $12,604,872 over the last quarter. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $297.10 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $297.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $282.77. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The firm has a market cap of $121.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.74%.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.