AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Down 1.1%

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shares dropped 1.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $18.59 and last traded at $18.61. Approximately 5,213,122 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 36,158,629 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.81.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on T shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of AT&T in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of AT&T from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.85.

AT&T Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $17.98 and its 200 day moving average is $17.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $133.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.58.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. AT&T had a net margin of 11.13% and a return on equity of 14.63%. The firm had revenue of $30.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. AT&T’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.95%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 59.68%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,554,000. Provence Wealth Management Group raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 55.8% during the fourth quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 16,217 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 5,807 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 250.3% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 67,303 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,129,000 after buying an additional 48,091 shares during the last quarter. Retireful LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth $1,163,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 46,265 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $776,000 after buying an additional 5,161 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Company Profile

AT&T Inc provides telecommunications and technology services worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Communications and Latin America. The Communications segment offers wireless voice and data communications services; and sells handsets, wireless data cards, wireless computing devices, carrying cases/protective covers, and wireless chargers through its own company-owned stores, agents, and third-party retail stores.