GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Takes $22.61 Million Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 77,222 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $22,605,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $455,993,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $396,714,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,136,763 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,796,415,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,390 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth $342,942,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 41,710.7% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,090,422 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $319,199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087,814 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $305.64.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,218,112.80. This represents a 6.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,451 shares of company stock valued at $743,024. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $321.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $130.34 billion, a PE ratio of 33.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $301.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $301.11. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $323.66.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.88 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.05%.

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.