AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Down 1.3% - Should You Sell?

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) fell 1.3% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $28.57 and last traded at $28.52. 14,153,150 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 36,321,152 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on T. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. TD Securities increased their price objective on AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on AT&T from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued 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.com, AT&T has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $28.90.

AT&T Stock Down 1.6%

The stock has a market capitalization of $204.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.43, a PEG ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $27.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). AT&T had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 9.64%. The company had revenue of $30.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. AT&T's revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.90%. AT&T's payout ratio is currently 68.10%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in AT&T in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC increased its position in shares of AT&T by 182.1% during the first quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC now owns 993 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 641 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company's stock.

AT&T Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.