AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading Down 3.2% - Here's What Happened

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) shares traded down 3.2% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $26.71 and last traded at $26.96. 12,271,613 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 36,410,933 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $31.00 target price (up from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $28.71.

AT&T Stock Down 3.0%

The stock has a market capitalization of $194.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $27.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.77.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. The business had revenue of $30.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. AT&T's revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. AT&T's payout ratio is currently 68.10%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in AT&T by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 651,044,650 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $18,411,543,000 after buying an additional 8,185,006 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in AT&T by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,203,667,000 after acquiring an additional 26,280,866 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in AT&T by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 85,592,594 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,948,943,000 after acquiring an additional 5,649,277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in AT&T in the 4th quarter worth $1,858,418,000. Institutional investors 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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