ADT (NYSE:ADT) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume After Dividend Announcement

ADT Inc. (NYSE:ADT) shares saw strong trading volume on Friday after the company announced a dividend. 9,515,544 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 40% from the previous session’s volume of 6,795,666 shares.The stock last traded at $8.37 and had previously closed at $8.12.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.055 per share. This represents a $0.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. ADT’s payout ratio is 23.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ADT. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on ADT from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $9.00 price objective on shares of ADT in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th.

ADT Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $7.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.31. The company has a market capitalization of $7.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.89 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ADT

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in ADT by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,555,115 shares of the security and automation business’s stock worth $307,876,000 after purchasing an additional 7,610,709 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of ADT by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 34,574,011 shares of the security and automation business’s stock worth $238,906,000 after purchasing an additional 3,632,502 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of ADT during the fourth quarter worth $153,824,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in ADT by 31.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 21,453,811 shares of the security and automation business’s stock valued at $148,246,000 after purchasing an additional 5,089,056 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in ADT by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 10,843,323 shares of the security and automation business’s stock valued at $74,927,000 after buying an additional 523,333 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.22% of the company’s stock.

ADT Company Profile

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.