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

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 79,935 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 30% compared to the average daily volume of 61,363 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

T has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AT&T has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.40.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 227.6% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 131,813 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 91,578 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in AT&T during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 356.5% during the 2nd quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 1,429 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,116 shares in the last quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 169.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 1,338 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 841 shares during the period. Finally, American Capital Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of AT&T by 107.5% in the second quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE T opened at $23.03 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $165.21 billion, a PE ratio of 18.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T has a 52 week low of $15.94 and a 52 week high of $23.20.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company 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 business posted $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AT&T will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.82%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.24%.

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.