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

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 216,762 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 161% compared to the typical daily volume of 83,023 call options.

AT&T Trading Up 0.4 %

T opened at $26.50 on Thursday. AT&T has a 12-month low of $15.94 and a 12-month high of $29.03. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $190.22 billion, a PE ratio of 17.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $26.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.90.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that AT&T will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.50%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. DZ Bank raised 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. BNP Paribas upgraded AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $28.50 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on AT&T from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group lifted their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.24.

About AT&T

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.