AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading Down 0.8% – Time to Sell?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shares dropped 0.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $21.97 and last traded at $22.01. Approximately 7,179,802 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 35,522,324 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.18.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on T shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank cut AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on AT&T from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.40.

AT&T Stock Down 0.9 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $21.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.30 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 quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 3rd quarter worth about $718,000. Equitable Trust Co. raised its position in shares of AT&T by 81.6% during the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 25,703 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $565,000 after purchasing an additional 11,552 shares during the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in AT&T by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 50,640 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after buying an additional 6,853 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in AT&T during the 3rd quarter valued at $259,000. Finally, Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC purchased a new position in AT&T during the third quarter worth $282,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.