Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Boosts Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 125,845 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,076 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $34,834,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% in the third 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 period. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ADP shares. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $5,253,553.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 92,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,464,384.66. The trade was a 17.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $297.54 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $227.12 and a 52 week high of $309.37. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $288.04 and its 200 day moving average is $264.93. The company has a market cap of $121.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.75, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 59.77%.

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.