AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Gap Down - What's Next?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $27.42, but opened at $26.30. AT&T shares last traded at $27.32, with a volume of 12,653,728 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

T has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Tigress Financial increased their target price on AT&T from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on AT&T from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays increased their target price on AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on AT&T from $29.50 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $29.30.

AT&T Stock Up 0.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.37 billion, a PE ratio of 17.18, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $27.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.54.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 9.64%. The firm had revenue of $30.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. AT&T's payout ratio is 68.10%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keystone Financial Group boosted its holdings in AT&T by 196.3% in the fourth quarter. Keystone Financial Group now owns 216,980 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,322,000 after acquiring an additional 143,744 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the first quarter valued at $201,000. World Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 36.4% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 237,477 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,407,000 after purchasing an additional 63,359 shares in the last quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. now owns 2,865,814 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $65,255,000 after purchasing an additional 365,776 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huber Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC now owns 577,985 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $13,161,000 after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is 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.