Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $34.83 Million Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 125,845 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring 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.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in 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 valued at $964,989,000 after acquiring an additional 435,093 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $905,354,000 after purchasing an additional 81,869 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted 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 worth $846,912,000 after acquiring an additional 139,561 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% during the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,556,377 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $610,182,000 after acquiring an additional 9,464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% during 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 in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ADP shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP stock traded up $1.12 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $298.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,135,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,629,040. The company has a 50 day moving average of $288.04 and a 200 day moving average of $264.93. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $227.12 and a 12-month high of $309.37. The stock has a market cap of $121.69 billion, a PE ratio of 31.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing's revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio is presently 59.77%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,959,908.96. This trade represents a 23.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at $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 have sold a total of 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708 in the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.