AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading Down 3.4% – Time to Sell?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s stock price dropped 3.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $27.79 and last traded at $27.63. Approximately 14,619,500 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 36,261,728 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.60.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on T. UBS Group raised their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AT&T has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.21.

AT&T Stock Down 6.8 %

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 firm has a market cap of $191.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $26.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.75.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in T. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. 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.