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

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $27.28, but opened at $26.47. AT&T shares last traded at $26.48, with a volume of 7,733,120 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on T shares. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. New Street Research upgraded AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.74.

AT&T Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of AT&T by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 194,924 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,288,000 after purchasing an additional 74,607 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in AT&T by 35.6% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,038 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $331,000 after acquiring an additional 3,948 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 1.3% during the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 50,033 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 142,186 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,128,000 after acquiring an additional 11,713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 3rd quarter valued at $284,000. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.