AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Down 1.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) was down 1.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $25.00 to $24.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. AT&T traded as low as $22.08 and last traded at $22.16. Approximately 7,099,967 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 35,607,207 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.49.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on T. Scotiabank cut AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Daiwa America upgraded AT&T to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hayek Kallen Investment Management increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 0.8% in the third quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management now owns 60,271 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,326,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its position in shares of AT&T by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 73,562 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,618,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 25,313 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 2.3% during the second quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 23,650 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WealthCare Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in AT&T by 2.2% in the second quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC now owns 24,138 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $461,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $21.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $156.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.16% and a net margin of 10.41%. The business had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.08%. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 59.68%.

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.