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

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s stock price dropped 0.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $17.32 and last traded at $17.45. Approximately 6,125,671 shares traded hands during 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 equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays upgraded 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 report on Monday, April 29th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Wolfe Research raised shares of AT&T from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.81.

AT&T Stock Up 0.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $125.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.41, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $17.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $30.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.62 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 11.13%. AT&T’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.24 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.34%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sora Investors LLC acquired a new position in AT&T in the 3rd quarter valued at $11,265,000. Provence Wealth Management Group lifted its position in AT&T by 55.8% during the fourth quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 16,217 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 5,807 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in AT&T by 3.1% during the third quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 38,929 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $585,000 after buying an additional 1,178 shares in the last quarter. Retireful LLC bought a new position in AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,163,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of AT&T by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 46,265 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $776,000 after buying an additional 5,161 shares in the last quarter. 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.