Investors Purchase Large Volume of AT&T Call Options (NYSE:T)

Key Points

• AT&T experienced a significant spike in options trading, with investors acquiring 73,816 call options, a 35% increase from the average volume.
• Despite this trading activity, AT&T's stock dropped 2.2% to $26.96, amid mixed analyst ratings and performance expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2775 per share, yielding 4.1%, which will be paid on November 3rd to shareholders of record as of October 10th.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 73,816 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 35% compared to the average volume of 54,852 call options.

AT&T Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:T traded down $0.59 during trading on Thursday, reaching $26.96. The stock had a trading volume of 22,259,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,130,441. AT&T has a one year low of $21.05 and a one year high of $29.79. The company has a market capitalization of $192.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.32, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $28.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.91.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $30.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.44 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 13.36%. The company's revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that AT&T will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.07%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in T. J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc. lifted its position in AT&T by 1.7% during the second quarter. J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc. now owns 21,253 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $615,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the period. Financial & Tax Architects LLC lifted its position in AT&T by 4.9% during the second quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC now owns 7,588 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the period. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL lifted its position in AT&T by 2.0% during the second quarter. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL now owns 18,386 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $532,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the period. Investment Partners LTD. lifted its position in AT&T by 3.5% during the second quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 10,464 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the period. Finally, Parcion Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in AT&T by 2.5% during the second quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 14,910 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $29.50 to $30.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $33.00 target price (up from $31.00) on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. HSBC cut shares of AT&T from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.74.

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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