ADT Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:ADT)

ADT Inc. (NYSE:ADT) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors purchased 3,052 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 269% compared to the average volume of 827 put options.

Institutional Trading of ADT

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in ADT by 31.4% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,297,954 shares of the security and automation business’s stock valued at $8,703,000 after acquiring an additional 310,406 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in ADT during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,017,000. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in ADT by 452.9% during the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 179,036 shares of the security and automation business’s stock worth $1,203,000 after purchasing an additional 146,657 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ADT by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,406,307 shares of the security and automation business’s stock worth $237,930,000 after acquiring an additional 3,427,575 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of ADT by 246.8% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 192,468 shares of the security and automation business’s stock worth $1,293,000 after acquiring an additional 136,977 shares during the period. 87.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ADT Stock Down 6.3 %

NYSE:ADT traded down $0.50 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $7.38. The company had a trading volume of 24,297,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,191,709. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.57 and a beta of 1.53. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.17. ADT has a 12-month low of $5.53 and a 12-month high of $8.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98.

ADT (NYSE:ADT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The security and automation business reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.03. ADT had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 13.83%. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.07 EPS. ADT’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that ADT will post 0.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ADT Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be issued a $0.055 dividend. This represents a $0.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 12th. ADT’s payout ratio is currently 31.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on ADT shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on ADT from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on ADT from $8.20 to $9.20 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday.

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.