AT&T Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:T)

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors purchased 86,584 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 44% compared to the average volume of 60,173 call options.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of T opened at $22.84 on Wednesday. AT&T has a fifty-two week low of $15.94 and a fifty-two week high of $24.03. The company has a market capitalization of $163.88 billion, a PE ratio of 18.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $22.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The firm had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that AT&T will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.86%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 90.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on T shares. Redburn Atlantic raised AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.18.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in AT&T by 1,379.0% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,159,133 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $270,581,000 after buying an additional 13,201,774 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 6,602,586 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 81,076,641 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,549,375,000 after acquiring an additional 5,592,123 shares in the last quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in AT&T by 22.0% during the 2nd quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,988,396 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $477,528,000 after purchasing an additional 4,511,725 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in AT&T in the 2nd quarter valued at $78,570,000. Hedge funds and other 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.