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

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $27.28, but opened at $26.47. AT&T shares last traded at $26.48, with a volume of 7,733,120 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. New Street Research raised shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Argus upgraded AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.74.

AT&T Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $187.66 billion, a PE ratio of 17.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.90. 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 quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.25%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,858,418,000. GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in AT&T by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,203,667,000 after buying an additional 26,280,866 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in AT&T by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 53,432,827 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,216,665,000 after buying an additional 12,881,578 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in AT&T by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 78,148,354 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,779,438,000 after buying an additional 10,945,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 4,986.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,913,960 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $225,741,000 after acquiring an additional 9,719,036 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.