AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock Price Down 1% - Here's What Happened

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) traded down 1% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $27.61 and last traded at $27.54. 5,578,674 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 36,353,604 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.82.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI increased their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on AT&T from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Williams Trading set a $30.00 target price on AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $29.10.

AT&T Price Performance

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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.42.

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

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.02%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.10%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 651,044,650 shares of the technology company's stock worth $18,411,543,000 after purchasing an additional 8,185,006 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AT&T by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 163,761,301 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,719,723,000 after acquiring an additional 2,640,644 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in AT&T by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 113,957,259 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,222,711,000 after acquiring an additional 17,177,874 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,858,418,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in AT&T by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 78,148,354 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,779,438,000 after acquiring an additional 10,945,679 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company's stock.

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.

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