ADT (NYSE:ADT) Downgraded to "Buy" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• ADT has been downgraded from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, reflecting a change in analyst sentiment toward the stock.
• Analysts from Morgan Stanley and Citigroup have raised their price targets for ADT, while Zacks Research has lowered its rating, contributing to a mixed consensus rating of "Hold" among investment analysts.
• A major shareholder, Apollo Management Holdings, has sold 71 million shares of ADT, representing a significant 38.66% decrease in their position, which raises concerns about insider confidence in the stock's future performance.

ADT (NYSE:ADT - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of ADT from $9.00 to $9.50 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Zacks Research lowered shares of ADT from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of ADT from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $9.34.

ADT Stock Performance

NYSE ADT opened at $8.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.46. ADT has a fifty-two week low of $6.68 and a fifty-two week high of $8.94. The stock has a market cap of $7.32 billion, a PE ratio of 13.35 and a beta of 1.13. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $8.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.32.

ADT (NYSE:ADT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The security and automation business reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.28 billion. ADT had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 18.58%. ADT's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. ADT has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.810-0.890 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that ADT will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Apollo Management Holdings Gp, sold 71,000,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.31, for a total transaction of $590,010,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 112,650,366 shares in the company, valued at $936,124,541.46. This trade represents a 38.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ADT

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in ADT in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $219,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,240 shares during the period. American Trust bought a new position in ADT in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $151,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in ADT in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,837,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new position in ADT in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,317,000. 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.

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