AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Down 0.8% – Time to Sell?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) traded down 0.8% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $21.97 and last traded at $22.01. 7,179,802 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 35,522,324 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.18.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on T shares. Daiwa America upgraded AT&T to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Hsbc Global Res raised AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.40.

AT&T Trading Down 1.0 %

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.60.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The firm had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is 90.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of T. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in AT&T by 1,379.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,159,133 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $270,581,000 after acquiring an additional 13,201,774 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 43.3% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,853,624 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $414,563,000 after purchasing an additional 6,602,586 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in AT&T by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 81,076,641 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,549,375,000 after buying an additional 5,592,123 shares in the last quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in AT&T by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,988,396 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $477,528,000 after buying an additional 4,511,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 2nd quarter valued at $78,570,000. 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.