AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Down 2%

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) was down 2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $19.20 and last traded at $19.23. Approximately 7,240,953 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 36,233,043 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.63.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Daiwa America raised AT&T to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on AT&T in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank cut AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.06.

AT&T Trading Down 2.8 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $136.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.22, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $18.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.70.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57. The company had revenue of $29.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.05 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.16% and a net margin of 10.41%. AT&T’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.82%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 59.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of T. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,118,288,000. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at $316,472,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 1,379.0% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,159,133 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $270,581,000 after purchasing an additional 13,201,774 shares in the last quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter worth about $152,109,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in AT&T by 43.3% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,853,624 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $414,563,000 after buying an additional 6,602,586 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.