AT&T Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:T)

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors purchased 73,816 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 35% compared to the average volume of 54,852 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on T shares. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of AT&T from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. UBS Group set a $33.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Hsbc Global Res lowered AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on AT&T from $29.50 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AT&T has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.74.

AT&T Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of AT&T stock opened at $26.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $28.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.95 billion, a PE ratio of 15.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.42. AT&T has a twelve month low of $21.05 and a twelve month high of $29.79.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $30.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.44 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 13.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AT&T will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.07%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 2nd quarter worth $5,266,758,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AT&T during the second quarter worth about $2,228,655,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in AT&T during the first quarter worth about $1,072,128,000. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in AT&T by 17.7% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 113,957,259 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,222,711,000 after purchasing an additional 17,177,874 shares during the period. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its holdings in AT&T by 30,527.5% in the 1st quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 11,959,440 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $338,213,000 after purchasing an additional 11,920,392 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

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.