Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Acquires 5,476 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. $ADP

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 8.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 70,309 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,476 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $21,684,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ADP. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 1st quarter valued at $661,771,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 128.1% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,585,704 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $484,480,000 after acquiring an additional 890,440 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,431,478 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,348,805,000 after acquiring an additional 601,400 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 811.7% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 637,601 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $194,806,000 after acquiring an additional 567,664 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 22.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,059,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $934,647,000 after acquiring an additional 564,187 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $289.87 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $272.62 and a 52-week high of $329.93. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $299.43 and a 200 day moving average of $303.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.42 billion, a PE ratio of 29.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.84% and a return on equity of 72.84%. The business had revenue of $5.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Automatic Data Processing has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.811-11.011 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th were given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 12th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ADP shares. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Automatic Data Processing to a “hold” rating and set a $340.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $316.70.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 4,614 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.57, for a total transaction of $1,368,373.98. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 17,536 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,200,651.52. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 8,728 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,032,866.33. This represents a 9.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,516 shares of company stock valued at $15,632,410 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.