AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock Price Down 0.5%

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) dropped 0.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $18.61 and last traded at $18.67. Approximately 6,484,448 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 36,591,984 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.76.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays upgraded AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $20.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com lowered AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. BNP Paribas upgraded AT&T from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.71.

AT&T Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $17.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 0.60.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $30.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.62 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 11.13%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. Analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.80%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 59.68%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $11,554,000. Provence Wealth Management Group boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 16,217 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 5,807 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 250.3% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 67,303 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,129,000 after acquiring an additional 48,091 shares during the last quarter. Retireful LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter worth about $1,163,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in AT&T by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 46,265 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $776,000 after purchasing an additional 5,161 shares during the last quarter. 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.