ADT Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:ADT)

ADT Inc. (NYSE:ADT) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 10,507 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 758% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,224 call options.

ADT Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:ADT traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $8.67. 767,578 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,174,774. 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 52-week low of $6.68 and a 52-week high of $8.94. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.34. The company has a market capitalization of $7.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.14 and a beta of 1.13.

ADT (NYSE:ADT) last posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. ADT had a return on equity of 18.58% and a net margin of 12.30%.The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. ADT has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.810-0.890 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that ADT will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ADT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.055 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $0.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. ADT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Apollo Management Holdings Gp, sold 71,000,000 shares of ADT stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.31, for a total transaction of $590,010,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 112,650,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $936,124,541.46. This trade represents a 38.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ADT

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in ADT during the second quarter worth about $219,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in ADT by 39.9% during the second 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 in the last quarter. American Trust acquired a new stake in ADT during the second quarter worth about $151,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in ADT during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,837,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans acquired a new stake in ADT during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,317,000. 87.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADT has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research lowered ADT from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on ADT from $9.00 to $9.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup raised their price objective on ADT from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut ADT from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.34.

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.