Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Sold by Empower Advisory Group LLC

Empower Advisory Group LLC decreased its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 37,474 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 162 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $10,370,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its holdings in 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 valued at $640,712,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264,202 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 23.6% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 21,443 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,934,000 after acquiring an additional 4,093 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 1.6% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 5,018 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,389,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.6% during the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 31,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,581,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 12.7% during the third quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 2,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $612,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho raised their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,959,908.96. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $872,254.02. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 41,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,440,548.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $23,959,908.96. The trade was a 0.00 % 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 worth $27,691,708 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $307.50 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $285.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $262.92. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $227.12 and a 1-year high of $309.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $125.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. This is a positive change 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 65.74%.

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.