AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Down 0.4% – What’s Next?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s stock price dropped 0.4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $22.34 and last traded at $22.44. Approximately 8,752,350 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 35,651,117 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

T has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Scotiabank cut shares of AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.40.

AT&T Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $158.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $21.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The company had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.02%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 90.24%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in T. Socha Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in AT&T by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Socha Financial Group LLC now owns 18,847 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $415,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank grew its position in shares of AT&T by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 21,636 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. Hayek Kallen Investment Management grew its position in shares of AT&T by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management now owns 60,271 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,326,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its position in AT&T by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 73,562 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,618,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the period. Finally, Spinnaker Trust grew its position in AT&T by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 124,593 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,741,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.