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

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 679,118 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,005% compared to the average daily volume of 61,437 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on T shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. New Street Research raised shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.76.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Chesapeake Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 1.9% in the third quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 24,304 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $535,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the period. Socha Financial Group LLC raised its stake in AT&T by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Socha Financial Group LLC now owns 18,847 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the period. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 1.4% in the third quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 34,468 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $759,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 2.3% during the third quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 21,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $476,000 after buying an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hayek Kallen Investment Management lifted its stake in AT&T by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management now owns 60,271 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,326,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of T stock remained flat at $22.20 during trading hours on Wednesday. The stock had a trading volume of 35,492,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,641,885. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $22.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.17. The stock has a market cap of $159.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73. AT&T has a 12-month low of $15.94 and a 12-month high of $24.03.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its 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 net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The company had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. AT&T’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that AT&T will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.00%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is 90.24%.

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.