ADT Inc. (NYSE:ADT) Short Interest Update

ADT Inc. (NYSE:ADT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,260,000 shares, an increase of 12.7% from the November 30th total of 14,430,000 shares. Approximately 3.4% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,410,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Institutional Trading of ADT

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ADT. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in ADT in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of ADT during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of ADT in the 3rd quarter worth $70,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of ADT by 46.9% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 10,577 shares of the security and automation business's stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 3,375 shares during the period. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in ADT during the third quarter valued at $76,000. 87.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ADT Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of ADT traded down $0.08 on Monday, hitting $6.89. 5,870,651 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,382,141. The company has a market capitalization of $6.25 billion, a PE ratio of 7.49 and a beta of 1.49. ADT has a one year low of $6.02 and a one year high of $8.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.81. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.32.

ADT (NYSE:ADT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The security and automation business reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.03. ADT had a return on equity of 17.77% and a net margin of 18.18%. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.07 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that ADT will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ADT Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.055 per share. This represents a $0.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 12th. ADT's payout ratio is presently 23.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ADT. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of ADT from $8.20 to $9.20 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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, October 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on ADT from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th.

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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