AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Down 2.1% - Here's Why

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 2.1% on Friday . The company traded as low as $26.89 and last traded at $26.96. Approximately 10,227,231 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 36,448,718 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.53.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on T shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Williams Trading set a $30.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday. BNP Paribas raised shares of AT&T from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $28.50 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AT&T has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $28.62.

AT&T Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $26.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.35. The stock has a market cap of $192.38 billion, a PE ratio of 17.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. The company had revenue of $30.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.39 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.14%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.10%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in T. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in AT&T by 80.5% during the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 83,381 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,358,000 after buying an additional 37,184 shares in the last quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd raised its position in shares of AT&T by 69.9% in the 1st quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 40,097 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,134,000 after purchasing an additional 16,500 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its stake in AT&T by 33.5% in the 1st quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 31,450 shares of the technology company's stock worth $889,000 after purchasing an additional 7,900 shares in the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in AT&T by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 319,311 shares of the technology company's stock worth $9,030,000 after purchasing an additional 3,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Salley Wealth Management increased its stake in AT&T by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 120,133 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,397,000 after purchasing an additional 10,028 shares in 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.