ADT (NYSE:ADT) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of ADT (NYSE:ADT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

ADT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Citigroup upped their price target on ADT from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Zacks Research lowered ADT from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on ADT from $9.00 to $9.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ADT in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.38.

ADT Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE:ADT opened at $8.13 on Friday. ADT has a 1 year low of $6.71 and a 1 year high of $8.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $8.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 1.00.

ADT (NYSE:ADT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 22nd. The security and automation business reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter. ADT had a return on equity of 18.96% and a net margin of 12.52%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ADT will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ADT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 11th will be issued a $0.055 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 11th. This represents a $0.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. ADT’s payout ratio is 31.88%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ADT

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in ADT in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of ADT by 69.5% in the second 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 period. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ADT in the third quarter worth about $28,000. WPG Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of ADT by 54.3% in the third quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 4,091 shares of the security and automation business’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ADT by 39.9% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 4,351 shares of the security and automation business’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 1,240 shares during the period. 87.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.