China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 3,418 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 51.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,049 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,418 shares during the quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $3,083,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 78,352 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $23,939,000 after purchasing an additional 2,146 shares in the last quarter. Fullcircle Wealth LLC increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. Fullcircle Wealth LLC now owns 862 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,379 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,949,000 after acquiring an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Point Advisors LLC increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Pacific Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,829 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,475,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 13,730 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,195,000 after acquiring an additional 1,198 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 478 shares of Automatic Data Processing 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 transaction, the vice president owned 7,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,158,682.96. This trade represents a 6.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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, June 5th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 13th. TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $307.08.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.3%

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $308.40 on Tuesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $312.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $303.71. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $329.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.57, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.79% and a return on equity of 77.33%. The business had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.88 EPS. Automatic Data Processing's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.

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