AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Down 1.8% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• AT&T shares fell 1.8% to about $25.42 on trading volume well below the daily average.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $29.19, despite several recent target cuts and rating changes.
• AT&T exceeded quarterly EPS expectations ($0.65 versus $0.59) and reported 2.3% year-over-year revenue growth. The company also maintains a 4.4% dividend yield, supported by a 36.75% payout ratio.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 1.8% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $25.28 and last traded at $25.4160. 26,063,311 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 49,919,945 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.87.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer cut shares of AT&T from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wolfe Research raised AT&T from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $29.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on AT&T from $31.00 to $27.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on AT&T from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AT&T has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $29.19.

AT&T Stock Down 1.8%

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $23.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.23.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 12.86% and a net margin of 16.94%.The company had revenue of $31.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. AT&T has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.350 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in AT&T by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 332,089,723 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $8,249,109,000 after buying an additional 8,314,678 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in AT&T by 1,920.3% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 221,126,798 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,577,325,000 after acquiring an additional 210,181,579 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in AT&T by 4.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 125,191,700 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,629,307,000 after acquiring an additional 5,449,222 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth $2,181,977,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 3.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 75,323,574 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,559,198,000 after acquiring an additional 2,559,065 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company's stock.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc is a global telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and digital entertainment services. Its core activities include consumer and business wireless services, broadband and fiber internet, and network infrastructure. The company operates branded wireless services through AT&T Mobility and deploys fixed-line and fiber networks to deliver high-speed internet and related home services.

AT&T's product and service portfolio spans mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and device sales, home internet (including fiber-to-the-home where available), and managed connectivity solutions for enterprise customers.

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