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

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 520,409 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 687% compared to the average volume of 66,118 call options.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of T traded up $0.07 on Wednesday, reaching $21.93. The stock had a trading volume of 25,347,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,788,570. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.24 billion, a PE ratio of 11.73, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.58 and a 200 day moving average of $18.75. AT&T has a twelve month low of $14.23 and a twelve month high of $22.34.

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

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Waterloo Capital L.P. purchased a new position in AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at about $174,000. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at about $719,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,028,505 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,038,000 after acquiring an additional 47,595 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 220,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,692,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at about $405,000. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on T shares. Redburn Atlantic raised AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on AT&T from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on AT&T in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.38.

AT&T Company Profile

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.