AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Down 1.5%

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) traded down 1.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $21.18 and last traded at $21.40. 9,078,158 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 35,969,438 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.73.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on AT&T from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays raised their price objective on AT&T from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on AT&T in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $22.31.

AT&T Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $19.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.30. The company has a market cap of $153.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57. AT&T had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 14.16%. The firm had revenue of $29.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were paid a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.20%. AT&T's payout ratio is currently 59.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 25,313 shares of the technology company's stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC increased its position in AT&T by 2.3% in the second quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 23,650 shares of the technology company's stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 2.2% in the second quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC now owns 24,138 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $461,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the period. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 3.2% in the second quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 17,177 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 538 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 92,450 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,767,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AT&T

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.