ADT (NYSE:ADT) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of ADT (NYSE:ADT) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Sunday.

A number of other research firms have also commented on ADT. Zacks Research lowered ADT from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on ADT from $9.00 to $9.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on ADT from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ADT currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.34.

ADT Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of ADT opened at $8.71 on Friday. ADT has a 1 year low of $6.68 and a 1 year high of $8.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.34. The stock has a market cap of $7.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.20 and a beta of 1.13.

ADT (NYSE:ADT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The security and automation business reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.04. ADT had a return on equity of 18.58% and a net margin of 12.30%.The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.17 EPS. ADT’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. ADT has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.810-0.890 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that ADT will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ADT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 11th will be given a $0.055 dividend. This represents a $0.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 11th. ADT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ADT news, major shareholder Apollo Management Holdings Gp, sold 71,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.31, for a total value of $590,010,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 112,650,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $936,124,541.46. This trade represents a 38.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ADT. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in ADT by 69.5% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,240 shares of the security and automation business’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,329 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in shares of ADT in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of ADT by 39.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 4,351 shares of the security and automation business’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in shares of ADT by 80.9% in the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 5,301 shares of the security and automation business’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 2,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of ADT in the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. 87.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.