Short Interest in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Declines By 16.3%

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 88,210,000 shares, a drop of 16.3% from the December 31st total of 105,350,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 36,090,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.11.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of AT&T stock traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $23.74. 40,341,358 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,177,680. AT&T has a 12 month low of $15.94 and a 12 month high of $24.98. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $170.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AT&T will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.68%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is 74.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of T. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 169.2% during the 3rd 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. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently 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.