Short Interest in ADT Inc. (NYSE:ADT) Declines By 9.5%

ADT Inc. (NYSE:ADT) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 21,320,000 shares, a drop of 9.5% from the September 30th total of 23,550,000 shares. Currently, 5.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 4,720,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on ADT. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of ADT from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of ADT from $8.20 to $9.20 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

ADT Price Performance

NYSE:ADT traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $7.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,000,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,333,639. The company has a market capitalization of $6.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.85 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.64. ADT has a twelve month low of $5.63 and a twelve month high of $8.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.19.

ADT (NYSE:ADT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The security and automation business reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.03. ADT had a net margin of 18.18% and a return on equity of 17.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.07 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that ADT will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ADT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.055 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $0.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. ADT’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.91%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ADT

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADT. Innealta Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of ADT by 170.5% in the third quarter. Innealta Capital LLC now owns 36,380 shares of the security and automation business’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 22,933 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in ADT by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 26,674 shares of the security and automation business’s stock valued at $193,000 after purchasing an additional 3,054 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in ADT during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $70,000. Semanteon Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of ADT in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $190,000. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ADT by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 27,643 shares of the security and automation business’s stock valued at $200,000 after purchasing an additional 2,542 shares during the last quarter. 87.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.