AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock Price Down 2.9% - What's Next?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report)'s stock price was down 2.9% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $25.20 and last traded at $25.64. Approximately 16,151,260 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 36,652,208 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.39.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on T shares. Scotiabank upped their target price on AT&T from $28.50 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Argus upgraded shares of AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded AT&T from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $19.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.24.

AT&T Trading Up 1.5 %

The company has a market cap of $192.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company's fifty day moving average price is $26.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.97.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. Research analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is currently 74.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in AT&T during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.