AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading Down 0.4% – Time to Sell?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shares fell 0.4% on Friday . The company traded as low as $22.34 and last traded at $22.44. 8,752,350 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 35,651,117 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.54.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on T. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Scotiabank lowered AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.40.

AT&T Trading Down 0.5 %

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 $160.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.27.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The firm’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 17.0% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 371,841 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,544,000 after purchasing an additional 54,078 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC boosted its holdings in AT&T by 49.1% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 68,267 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,201,000 after acquiring an additional 22,477 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in AT&T in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,036,000. Mission Wealth Management LP raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 20.6% during the first quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 65,136 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,146,000 after purchasing an additional 11,105 shares during the period. Finally, Prosperity Consulting Group LLC raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 10.8% during the first quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 51,740 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $911,000 after purchasing an additional 5,048 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AT&T

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.