AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Down 0.3%

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s stock price was down 0.3% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $17.32 and last traded at $17.45. Approximately 6,125,671 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 37,107,145 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.50.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on T shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Wolfe Research raised shares of AT&T from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Barclays raised shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $20.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.81.

AT&T Stock Down 0.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.84.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. AT&T had a net margin of 11.13% and a return on equity of 14.63%. The company had revenue of $30.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.62 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.35%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 59.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. First Pacific Financial grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 166.7% during the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 1,600 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, HighMark Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in AT&T by 58.2% in the 1st quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,204 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.