ADT (NYSE:ADT) Hits New 12-Month High - Here's Why

Key Points

• ADT Inc. reached a new 52-week high of $8.81, reflecting strong trading activity with a volume of over 5.7 million shares.
• Wall Street analysts have varied ratings for ADT, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a target price of $9.18, though Morgan Stanley recently raised its price target to $9.50.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.055 per share, representing a 2.5% yield, with an expected payout ratio of 33.33%.

ADT Inc. (NYSE:ADT - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $8.81 and last traded at $8.77, with a volume of 5723249 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.51.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of ADT from $9.00 to $9.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of ADT in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of ADT from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ADT has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $9.18.

ADT Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $7.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 1.20. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $8.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.17 EPS. The business's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that ADT Inc. will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ADT Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.055 per share. This represents a $0.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 11th. ADT's payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Insider Activity at ADT

In other ADT news, major shareholder Apollo Management Holdings Gp, sold 71,000,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 112,650,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $936,124,541.46. This represents a 38.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ADT

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of ADT during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $219,825,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in ADT by 2,089.4% in the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 14,638,575 shares of the security and automation business's stock valued at $123,989,000 after acquiring an additional 13,969,976 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its position in ADT by 97.1% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 24,727,193 shares of the security and automation business's stock valued at $209,439,000 after acquiring an additional 12,182,009 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of ADT by 179.6% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 13,693,517 shares of the security and automation business's stock worth $115,984,000 after buying an additional 8,796,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP bought a new position in shares of ADT during the 4th quarter worth $48,687,000. 87.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.