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

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $27.28, but opened at $26.47. AT&T shares last traded at $26.48, with a volume of 7,733,120 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

T has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. New Street Research raised AT&T from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. BNP Paribas raised AT&T from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $28.50 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays boosted their price target on AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Argus raised shares of AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.74.

AT&T Trading Down 4.6 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The firm's 50-day moving average is $24.46 and its 200 day moving average is $22.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56.

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AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) 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, equities analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.27%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.50%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Equitable Trust Co. boosted its stake in AT&T by 81.6% during the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 25,703 shares of the technology company's stock worth $565,000 after acquiring an additional 11,552 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the 3rd quarter worth about $718,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 194,924 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,288,000 after purchasing an additional 74,607 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 88,353 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,944,000 after buying an additional 5,556 shares during the period. Finally, Baker Avenue Asset Management LP bought a new stake in AT&T in the 3rd quarter valued at about $261,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.