AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading Down 1.7% – Time to Sell?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s share price fell 1.7% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $24.89 and last traded at $25.57. 23,774,010 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 41,383,641 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

T has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $28.50 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup increased their price target on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on AT&T from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, New Street Research raised shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.74.

AT&T Stock Down 1.2 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $184.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $24.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.94.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. As a group, analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.32%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 74.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in AT&T during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AT&T

AT&T, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of telecommunications and technology services. It operates through the Communications and Latin America segments. The Communications segment offers wireless, wireline telecom, and broadband services to businesses and consumers located in the US and businesses globally.