AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock Price Down 0.5% - Should You Sell?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) fell 0.5% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $22.01 and last traded at $22.02. 4,471,618 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 35,635,566 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

T has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Daiwa America raised shares of AT&T to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of AT&T to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $23.40.

AT&T Stock Down 0.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $157.28 billion, a PE ratio of 17.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.59. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $21.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.40.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The business had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.06%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.24%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 227.6% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 131,813 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 91,578 shares during the last quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 356.5% in the 2nd quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 1,429 shares of the technology company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116 shares during the period. American Capital Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 107.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA increased its position in AT&T by 176.6% during the 2nd quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 1,867 shares of the technology company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company's stock.

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.