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

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 112,599 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 59% compared to the average daily volume of 70,955 call options.

AT&T Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE:T opened at $22.19 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $21.09 and its 200-day moving average is $19.06. 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 52 week low of $14.74 and a 52 week high of $22.58. The firm has a market cap of $159.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.60.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 14.16%. The company had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that AT&T will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on T shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of AT&T in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP acquired a new position in AT&T during the second quarter worth $23,888,000. Talbot Financial LLC acquired a new position in AT&T during the third quarter worth $7,438,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in AT&T by 12.2% during 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 raised its holdings in AT&T by 642.2% during the second quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 104,309 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,997,000 after buying an additional 90,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in AT&T by 4.3% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,037,529 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $19,827,000 after buying an additional 43,062 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.