Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Sells 8,079 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. $ADP

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management reduced its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 11.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,230 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 8,079 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $18,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 92.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,935,000 after acquiring an additional 4,808 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 3,664 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,073,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 21.8% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 1,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $709,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 13,827 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,264,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP David Kwon sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $234,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 11,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,118,180. This represents a 6.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David Foskett sold 266 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.00, for a total transaction of $63,042.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 10,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,596,098. The trade was a 2.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 3,515 shares of company stock valued at $887,074 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $311.00 to $274.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $270.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $230.00 price objective (down from $245.00) on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $295.00 to $275.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $290.00.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $214.47 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.62 and a 52 week high of $329.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $247.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $269.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $86.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.62 and a beta of 0.85.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $5.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.34 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 68.44% and a net margin of 19.96%.Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.35 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.091-11.011 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 14th that permits the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 5.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 65.38%.

About Automatic Data Processing

Automatic Data Processing, Inc (ADP) is a global provider of cloud-based human capital management (HCM) and payroll solutions. Founded in 1949 and headquartered in Roseland, New Jersey, ADP began as a payroll processing company and has evolved into a diversified provider of workforce management, HR, benefits administration, tax and compliance services, and analytics for employers of all sizes.

ADP’s product portfolio includes payroll processing and tax filing, time and attendance systems, benefits administration, talent management, and HR outsourcing.