Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stake in ADT Inc. (NYSE:ADT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in ADT Inc. (NYSE:ADT) by 8.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,307 shares of the security and automation business’s stock after selling 1,778 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in ADT were worth $140,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ADT. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of ADT by 20.3% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 30,941,509 shares of the security and automation business’s stock worth $223,707,000 after purchasing an additional 5,222,972 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of ADT by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 30,360,559 shares of the security and automation business’s stock worth $230,740,000 after acquiring an additional 780,762 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of ADT by 61.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,359,752 shares of the security and automation business’s stock valued at $93,937,000 after acquiring an additional 4,705,544 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of ADT by 75.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,862,453 shares of the security and automation business’s stock worth $59,755,000 after acquiring an additional 3,370,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in ADT by 7.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,597,684 shares of the security and automation business’s stock worth $48,060,000 after purchasing an additional 457,918 shares during the last quarter. 87.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of ADT from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of ADT from $8.20 to $9.20 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of ADT from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th.

ADT Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ADT opened at $7.00 on Wednesday. ADT Inc. has a one year low of $6.02 and a one year high of $8.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.61 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.81.

ADT (NYSE:ADT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. ADT had a return on equity of 17.77% and a net margin of 18.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.07 EPS. On average, analysts predict that ADT Inc. will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

ADT Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. ADT’s payout ratio is currently 23.91%.

ADT 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.