AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Down 2.9% – Time to Sell?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s share price dropped 2.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $25.20 and last traded at $25.64. Approximately 16,151,260 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 36,652,208 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.39.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

T has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $28.50 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on AT&T from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. DZ Bank raised AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AT&T has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.24.

AT&T Stock Down 0.6 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $26.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.85. 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 capitalization of $188.21 billion, a PE ratio of 17.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.23%. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 74.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in AT&T during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Company Profile

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.