Ameriflex Group Inc. Acquires New Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,135 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $344,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Main Street Group LTD lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% in the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 473 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at $2,218,112.80. The trade was a 6.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. This represents a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,451 shares of company stock valued at $743,024 in the last 90 days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on ADP. TD Securities lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $305.64.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $324.12. 921,682 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,701,072. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $327.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.80, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $302.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $301.50.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.88 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors 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 yield of 1.90%. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.05%.

About Automatic Data Processing

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.