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

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup increased 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. Barclays raised their target price on AT&T from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.40.

AT&T Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $160.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.24, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $21.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.27.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $30.20 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.24%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the third quarter worth about $718,000. Equitable Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 81.6% during the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 25,703 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $565,000 after buying an additional 11,552 shares during the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 15.7% during the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 50,640 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,114,000 after buying an additional 6,853 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the third quarter worth about $259,000. Finally, Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the third quarter worth about $282,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

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.