AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Down 0.2% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) traded down 0.2% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $27.50 and last traded at $27.59. 5,646,857 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 41,832,438 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.64.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Williams Trading set a $30.00 target price on AT&T in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. BNP Paribas upgraded AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $28.50 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eighteen 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.71.

AT&T Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $27.06 and its 200 day moving average is $24.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.54, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.01). AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The company had revenue of $30.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 68.10%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. raised its holdings in AT&T by 35.5% during the first quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 16,285 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $461,000 after buying an additional 4,267 shares in the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $237,000. Forte Capital LLC ADV raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 21,156 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $598,000 after acquiring an additional 1,966 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its position in AT&T by 2.6% during the first quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 2,610,868 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $73,835,000 after purchasing an additional 66,725 shares during the period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in AT&T by 0.8% during the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 260,055 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,976 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.