AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Down 2.9% – Here’s Why

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s stock price traded down 2.9% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $25.20 and last traded at $25.64. 16,151,260 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 36,652,208 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.39.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on T. Tigress Financial increased their target price on AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Monday. Argus raised shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $28.50 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One equities 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.24.

AT&T Trading Down 0.6 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $188.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $26.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. On average, research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in T. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 965,383 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $21,238,000 after purchasing an additional 16,024 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of AT&T in the 3rd quarter valued at about $502,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 5.1% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,772,597 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $60,997,000 after buying an additional 135,491 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 30,486 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 5,646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Executive Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 44.3% during the third quarter. Executive Wealth Management LLC now owns 42,397 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $933,000 after purchasing an additional 13,017 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

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.