Prospera Financial Services Inc Has $5.66 Million Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 20,454 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $5,664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,065,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $964,989,000 after acquiring an additional 435,093 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,625,186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $905,354,000 after acquiring an additional 81,869 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,548,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $846,912,000 after purchasing an additional 139,561 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,556,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $610,182,000 after purchasing an additional 9,464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $640,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,202 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ ADP opened at $297.54 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $288.04 and its 200-day moving average is $264.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $121.24 billion, a PE ratio of 31.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $227.12 and a 12-month high of $309.37.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.08 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 59.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ADP shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 value of $7,164,724.32. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,959,908.96. This represents a 23.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.