ADT Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:ADT)

Key Points

• ADT Inc. experienced a significant surge in options trading, with 10,507 call options purchased, marking a 758% increase over typical volume.
• Recent analyst reports resulted in mixed ratings; Morgan Stanley raised the price target to $9.50 while Zacks downgraded ADT to a "hold" rating.
• A major shareholder, Apollo Management, sold 71 million shares of ADT stock for approximately $590 million, reducing their ownership by 38.66%.

ADT Inc. (NYSE:ADT - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders bought 10,507 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 758% compared to the typical volume of 1,224 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADT has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Citigroup raised their target price on ADT from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded ADT from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded ADT from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ADT currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $9.34.

Insider Activity at ADT

In other news, major shareholder Apollo Management Holdings Gp, sold 71,000,000 shares of the business'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 directly owned 112,650,366 shares in the company, valued at $936,124,541.46. The trade was a 38.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in ADT by 69.5% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,240 shares of the security and automation business's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,329 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in ADT in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in shares of ADT by 80.9% during the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 5,301 shares of the security and automation business's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 2,370 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of ADT during the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.22% of the company's stock.

ADT Price Performance

Shares of ADT stock traded down $0.13 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $8.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 767,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,174,774. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. ADT has a 12-month low of $6.68 and a 12-month high of $8.94. The company has a market capitalization of $7.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.14 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $8.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.34.

ADT (NYSE:ADT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The security and automation business reported $0.23 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 company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.17 earnings per share. 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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ADT will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

ADT Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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