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

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 93,728 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 37% compared to the typical daily volume of 68,533 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on T shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on AT&T in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AT&T during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,858,418,000. GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,203,667,000 after purchasing an additional 26,280,866 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in AT&T by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 53,432,827 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,216,665,000 after purchasing an additional 12,881,578 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in AT&T by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 78,148,354 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,779,438,000 after buying an additional 10,945,679 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in AT&T by 4,986.1% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,913,960 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $225,741,000 after buying an additional 9,719,036 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of T stock traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $26.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 31,887,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,641,570. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. AT&T has a twelve month low of $15.94 and a twelve month high of $27.16. The stock has a market cap of $189.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a fifty day moving average of $23.58 and a 200-day moving average of $22.38.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AT&T will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.20%. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 74.50%.

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.