ADT Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:ADT)

ADT Inc. (NYSE:ADT) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 5,761 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 439% compared to the average daily volume of 1,068 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ADT. Barclays raised ADT from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $7.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $9.00 price objective on shares of ADT in a research report on Monday, April 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ADT

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ADT by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,555,115 shares of the security and automation business’s stock valued at $307,876,000 after buying an additional 7,610,709 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in ADT by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 34,574,011 shares of the security and automation business’s stock worth $238,906,000 after purchasing an additional 3,632,502 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of ADT during the 4th quarter worth approximately $153,824,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of ADT by 31.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 21,453,811 shares of the security and automation business’s stock valued at $148,246,000 after purchasing an additional 5,089,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of ADT by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 10,843,323 shares of the security and automation business’s stock valued at $74,927,000 after purchasing an additional 523,333 shares during the period. 87.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ADT Stock Performance

Shares of ADT opened at $8.28 on Thursday. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $7.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.55. The stock has a market cap of $6.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 1.29. ADT has a one year low of $6.53 and a one year high of $8.44.

ADT (NYSE:ADT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The security and automation business reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.01. ADT had a return on equity of 17.77% and a net margin of 18.18%. The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.16 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that ADT will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

ADT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.055 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 12th. This represents a $0.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. ADT’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.93%.

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.