ADT (NYSE:ADT) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Shares of ADT Inc. (NYSE:ADT) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 5,108,910 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 5% from the previous session’s volume of 5,392,902 shares.The stock last traded at $7.64 and had previously closed at $7.60.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ADT. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on ADT from $8.20 to $9.20 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on ADT from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

ADT Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.14 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.27.

ADT (NYSE:ADT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The security and automation business reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. ADT had a net margin of 18.18% and a return on equity of 17.77%. The business’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that ADT Inc. will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

ADT Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.055 per share. This represents a $0.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 12th. ADT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.91%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ADT

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in ADT by 0.8% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 172,226 shares of the security and automation business’s stock valued at $1,245,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of ADT by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 75,863 shares of the security and automation business’s stock worth $510,000 after acquiring an additional 2,183 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ADT by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 27,643 shares of the security and automation business’s stock worth $200,000 after purchasing an additional 2,542 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in ADT by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 26,674 shares of the security and automation business’s stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 3,054 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in ADT by 19.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 20,546 shares of the security and automation business’s stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 3,311 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.22% of the company’s stock.

About ADT

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.