Prospera Private Wealth LLC Invests $273,000 in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 988 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 3.4% in the third quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 1,054 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2.1% in the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $482,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the third quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,902,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,360,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 4.4% in the third quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 923 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,959,908.96. The trade was a 23.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total transaction of $228,927.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,816,946. The trade was a 7.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 97,792 shares of company stock worth $27,691,708. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $298.59 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $121.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.79. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $288.47 and a 200 day moving average of $265.16. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $227.12 and a twelve month high of $309.37.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 business 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 $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ADP shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays raised 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 note on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

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.