Empowered Funds LLC Sells 2,354 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Empowered Funds LLC cut its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 26,691 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,354 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $7,813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 22.9% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,618 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after purchasing an additional 861 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 3.7% during the third quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,756 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,870,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at about $22,286,000. Orca Investment Management LLC raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Orca Investment Management LLC now owns 3,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $918,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.2% during the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 8,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,415,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho boosted their price objective 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 lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.55.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $306.93 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $125.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.01, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $297.20 and its 200 day moving average is $286.94. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $311.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. Research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.23%.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241 in the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.