AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock Price Down 0.4%

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shares dropped 0.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $16.80 and last traded at $16.96. Approximately 6,521,990 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 39,054,457 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.02.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup increased their target price on AT&T from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.81.

AT&T Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $16.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.81 billion, a PE ratio of 9.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $30.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.62 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 11.13% and a return on equity of 14.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.57%. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 59.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in AT&T in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. First Pacific Financial lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 166.7% during the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 1,600 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in AT&T by 16,250.0% during the third quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lipe & Dalton purchased a new position in AT&T in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors 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.