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

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 77,222 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $22,605,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $455,993,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth $396,714,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,299,390 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth $342,942,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 41,710.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,087,814 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on ADP. UBS Group lifted their target price on 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 Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $305.64.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction of $458,070.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $140,120.92. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. This trade represents a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,451 shares of company stock worth $743,024. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ:ADP traded down $0.63 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $323.51. The stock had a trading volume of 271,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,698,571. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.32 billion, a PE ratio of 33.74, 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $302.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $301.50. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $327.99.

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, 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.88 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.