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

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 520,409 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 687% compared to the typical volume of 66,118 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on T. TD Cowen lifted their price target on AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.38.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of T traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $21.93. 25,347,010 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 35,788,570. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $20.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.70. AT&T has a 12 month low of $14.23 and a 12 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, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.57. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.16% and a net margin of 10.41%. The firm had revenue of $29.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that AT&T will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.06%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 59.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP acquired a new position in AT&T in the second quarter worth approximately $23,888,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in AT&T by 12.2% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,641,856 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $50,486,000 after buying an additional 288,093 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC grew its position in AT&T by 642.2% during the 2nd quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 104,309 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,997,000 after purchasing an additional 90,255 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in AT&T by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,037,529 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $19,827,000 after purchasing an additional 43,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new position in AT&T during the 1st quarter worth approximately $9,074,000. 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.