Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on AT&T (NYSE:T)

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders bought 102,083 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 56% compared to the typical daily volume of 65,277 call options.

AT&T Stock Performance

NYSE:T opened at $22.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. AT&T has a 1-year low of $15.94 and a 1-year high of $24.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $22.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.44. The stock has a market cap of $162.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.44, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The business had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that AT&T will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.89%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 90.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on T. Citigroup boosted their price target on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group boosted their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays boosted their target price on AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.83.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in AT&T in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its holdings in AT&T by 169.2% in the third quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 1,338 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in AT&T in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in AT&T in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in AT&T in the third quarter worth about $35,000. 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.