E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. Boosts Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 493.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 196 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $60,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ADP. Main Street Group LTD lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 50.7% during the 4th quarter. Main Street Group LTD now owns 113 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% in the fourth quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 58.1% in the first quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 117 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total transaction of $140,120.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. This trade represents a 6.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction of $458,070.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $310.24 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $125.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.75, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $329.93. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $309.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $302.99.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 77.33% and a net margin of 19.79%. The company had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.88 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 63.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ADP. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 13th. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.08.

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.