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

Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,454 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying 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 and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,065,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $964,989,000 after purchasing an additional 435,093 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.3% in 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 buying an additional 81,869 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,548,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $846,912,000 after buying an additional 139,561 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,556,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $610,182,000 after acquiring an additional 9,464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,264,202 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $297.54 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $288.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $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. 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 twelve month low of $227.12 and a twelve 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. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.07%. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. 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 note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock 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 issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,959,908.96. This trade represents a 23.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708 over the last quarter. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.