China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $1.95 Million Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 28.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,459 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,948,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total transaction of $210,236.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 42,129 shares of company stock worth $12,604,872. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $303.01 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $297.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $284.32. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $311.67. The firm has a market cap of $123.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 81.85%. On average, analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 64.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $291.27.

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.