AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Down 1.4%

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 1.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $16.42 and last traded at $16.49. Approximately 11,554,555 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 38,000,590 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.73.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on T shares. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of AT&T from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of AT&T from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $20.68.

AT&T Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $117.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.41, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $17.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.44.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.44 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 15.39%. The firm's revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.76%. AT&T's payout ratio is presently 56.63%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 47,356 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,119,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. SMH Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. SMH Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 31,771 shares of the technology company's stock worth $585,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Kahn Brothers Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Kahn Brothers Group Inc. now owns 17,329 shares of the technology company's stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 35,098 shares of the technology company's stock worth $589,000 after acquiring an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 35.3% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,322 shares of the technology company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 606 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company's stock.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc provides telecommunications and technology services worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Communications and Latin America. The Communications segment offers wireless voice and data communications services; and sells handsets, wireless data cards, wireless computing devices, carrying cases/protective covers, and wireless chargers through its own company-owned stores, agents, and third-party retail stores.