Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Cuts Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management decreased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 21.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,630 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,934 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $3,112,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 1,054 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.1% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Aspiriant LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 2,372 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $694,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,466,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Petredis Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,902,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $300.15 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $297.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $282.77. The stock has a market cap of $122.30 billion, a PE ratio of 32.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $309.63.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 65.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total value of $305,322.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,961. This represents a 14.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total transaction of $210,236.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,077,721.04. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 42,129 shares of company stock valued at $12,604,872. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ADP shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

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.