Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 55,262 Shares of ADT Inc. (NYSE:ADT)

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of ADT Inc. (NYSE:ADT - Free Report) by 210.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 81,494 shares of the security and automation business's stock after acquiring an additional 55,262 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in ADT were worth $663,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ADT. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in ADT during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in ADT during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in ADT during the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in ADT during the 4th quarter valued at $73,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in ADT in the 4th quarter valued at $73,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.22% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $9.00 price objective on shares of ADT in a report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays raised ADT from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $7.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, April 4th.

ADT Stock Performance

ADT traded up $0.10 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $8.34. 23,381,648 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,527,742. The company has a market capitalization of $6.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.06 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $8.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.70. ADT Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $6.53 and a fifty-two week high of $8.72.

ADT (NYSE:ADT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The security and automation business reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.16 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that ADT Inc. will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ADT Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.055 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 12th. This represents a $0.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. ADT's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.93%.

Insider Activity at ADT

In related news, major shareholder Apollo Management Holdings Gp, sold 45,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.27, for a total transaction of $372,150,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 183,650,366 shares in the company, valued at $1,518,788,526.82. This trade represents a 19.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

ADT 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.