Empower Advisory Group LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Empower Advisory Group LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 82.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,612 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 30,862 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,936,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,334,580 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,098,541,000 after acquiring an additional 424,328 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,517,642 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,906,257,000 after purchasing an additional 286,080 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,238,526 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $896,197,000 after purchasing an additional 41,709 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $640,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,252,807 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $623,419,000 after purchasing an additional 17,717 shares in 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 research analysts have weighed in on ADP shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $293.55.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock traded down $1.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $310.76. 1,600,341 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,606,313. The business has a 50-day moving average of $298.44 and a 200 day moving average of $289.74. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $313.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.62 billion, a PE ratio of 32.40, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. On average, analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.23%.

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.