AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Down 0.2% - Should You Sell?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) shares traded down 0.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $26.84 and last traded at $26.98. 6,287,532 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 34,216,116 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.02.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Argus raised shares of AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays increased their target price on AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price target on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.50 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.79.

AT&T Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.53. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $202.40 billion, a PE ratio of 18.92, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56.

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AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 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 analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. AT&T's payout ratio is 74.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 642,859,644 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $14,637,914,000 after acquiring an additional 6,220,442 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of AT&T by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 163,761,301 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,719,723,000 after acquiring an additional 2,640,644 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in AT&T by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,203,667,000 after purchasing an additional 26,280,866 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in AT&T by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 85,592,594 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,948,943,000 after purchasing an additional 5,649,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AT&T during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,858,418,000. 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.