Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on AT&T (NYSE:T)

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders purchased 93,728 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 37% compared to the typical volume of 68,533 put options.

AT&T Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE T opened at $26.65 on Wednesday. AT&T has a fifty-two week low of $15.94 and a fifty-two week high of $27.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $191.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.43.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. On average, analysts predict that AT&T will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.17%. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 74.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on T. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $19.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.33.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 305.1% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,541,724 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,918,000 after acquiring an additional 1,161,152 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of AT&T by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 310,190 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,824,000 after purchasing an additional 3,972 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its stake in AT&T by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 53,976 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,180,000 after purchasing an additional 3,561 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in AT&T by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 476,079 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,393,000 after buying an additional 85,699 shares during the period. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in AT&T by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 71,192 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,566,000 after buying an additional 1,294 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AT&T Company Profile

AT&T, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of telecommunications and technology services. It operates through the Communications and Latin America segments. The Communications segment offers wireless, wireline telecom, and broadband services to businesses and consumers located in the US and businesses globally.