ADT (NYSE:ADT) Hits New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

ADT Inc. (NYSE:ADT - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $8.59 and last traded at $8.41, with a volume of 19031066 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $8.33.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ADT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $9.00 price objective on shares of ADT in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Barclays upgraded ADT from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $7.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, April 4th.

ADT Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $7.19 billion, a PE ratio of 9.35 and a beta of 1.29. The business's 50-day moving average price is $7.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.81.

ADT (NYSE:ADT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The security and automation business reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.01. ADT had a net margin of 18.18% and a return on equity of 17.77%. The business had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.16 earnings per share. ADT's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that ADT Inc. will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

ADT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 12th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 2.56%. ADT's dividend payout ratio is 37.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Apollo Management Holdings Gp, sold 50,000,000 shares of ADT stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.02, for a total value of $401,000,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 228,650,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,833,775,935.32. This trade represents a 17.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ADT

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in ADT in the first quarter worth about $296,000. Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of ADT in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $120,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of ADT by 503.0% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 13,279 shares of the security and automation business's stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 11,077 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of ADT by 668.5% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 7,504,051 shares of the security and automation business's stock valued at $61,083,000 after purchasing an additional 6,527,539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in ADT by 7.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 923,016 shares of the security and automation business's stock worth $7,513,000 after purchasing an additional 65,565 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.