ADT (NYSE:ADT) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Shares of ADT Inc. (NYSE:ADT) gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $7.88, but opened at $7.42. ADT shares last traded at $7.33, with a volume of 10,264,090 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ADT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of ADT from $8.20 to $9.20 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on ADT from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday.

ADT Stock Down 6.2 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $7.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.17. The firm has a market cap of $6.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.57 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.75.

ADT (NYSE:ADT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The security and automation business reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. ADT had a net margin of 13.83% and a return on equity of 15.45%. The company’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.07 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that ADT Inc. will post 0.62 earnings per share for the current year.

ADT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be issued a $0.055 dividend. This represents a $0.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 12th. ADT’s payout ratio is currently 31.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ADT

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in ADT in the 1st quarter valued at $311,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in ADT by 56.8% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,085 shares of the security and automation business’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 7,635 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in ADT by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,732,598 shares of the security and automation business’s stock worth $12,180,000 after acquiring an additional 220,412 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of ADT by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 375,429 shares of the security and automation business’s stock valued at $2,523,000 after purchasing an additional 3,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of ADT by 3.0% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 75,863 shares of the security and automation business’s stock valued at $510,000 after purchasing an additional 2,183 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.22% of the company’s stock.

ADT Company Profile

ADT Inc provides security, interactive, and smart home solutions to residential and small business customers in the United States. It operates through two segments, Consumer and Small Business, and Solar. The company provides burglar and life safety alarms, smart security cameras, smart home automation systems, and video surveillance systems.