Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on AT&T (NYSE:T)

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock traders acquired 91,290 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 56% compared to the typical volume of 58,654 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays upgraded shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $20.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.71.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in T. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. First Pacific Financial raised its position in AT&T by 166.7% in the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 1,600 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in AT&T in the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 35.3% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,322 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Price Performance

NYSE T opened at $19.13 on Friday. AT&T has a fifty-two week low of $13.43 and a fifty-two week high of $19.13. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $17.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.17. The firm has a market cap of $137.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. AT&T had a net margin of 11.13% and a return on equity of 14.63%. The business had revenue of $30.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.62 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. AT&T’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that AT&T will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.68%.

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.