Empowered Funds LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. $ADP

Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 62.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,418 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,696 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $9,381,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2,600.0% in the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 81 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Solstein Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 80.0% during the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 90 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on ADP shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $315.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Automatic Data Processing to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $288.00 to $272.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $312.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Foskett sold 1,373 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.57, for a total value of $407,190.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 11,781 shares in the company, valued at $3,493,891.17. This represents a 10.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 8,728 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.43, for a total transaction of $2,604,697.04. Following the sale, the vice president owned 80,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,032,866.33. The trade was a 9.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 52,516 shares of company stock worth $15,632,410 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.5%

ADP opened at $249.69 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $100.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $278.43 and its 200 day moving average is $297.92. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $247.21 and a fifty-two week high of $329.93.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 70.63% and a net margin of 19.79%.The business had revenue of $5.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.33 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Automatic Data Processing has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.811-11.011 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.54. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 67.13%.

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.