AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Down 0.1% – Should You Sell?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shares traded down 0.1% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $23.78 and last traded at $24.20. 15,126,338 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 37,706,027 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.23.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.11.

AT&T Trading Down 1.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $22.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.34 billion, a PE ratio of 15.93, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.68%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 74.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the third quarter valued at $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 169.2% during the third quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 1,338 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in AT&T in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.