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

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 120,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,427 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $28,826,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,360,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,302,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 5,581 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,402,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Patron Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 2,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $683,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total value of $2,479,748.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,899,862.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,959,908.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 58,817 shares of company stock valued at $15,999,208. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of ADP stock opened at $277.58 on Tuesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $205.53 and a 12-month high of $281.54. The company has a market capitalization of $113.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 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 0.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $265.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $251.85.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 89.20%. The company had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $282.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Two 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $265.36.

Automatic Data Processing 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.