Traders Purchase Large Volume of AT&T Call Options (NYSE:T)

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors bought 112,599 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 59% compared to the typical volume of 70,955 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on T. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank downgraded shares of AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.40.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the second quarter valued at approximately $23,888,000. Talbot Financial LLC bought a new stake in AT&T during the third quarter valued at approximately $7,438,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in AT&T by 12.2% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,641,856 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,486,000 after purchasing an additional 288,093 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC lifted its position in AT&T by 642.2% during the second quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 104,309 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,997,000 after purchasing an additional 90,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in AT&T by 4.3% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,037,529 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $19,827,000 after purchasing an additional 43,062 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AT&T Price Performance

T stock opened at $22.19 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $21.09 and a 200-day moving average of $19.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. AT&T has a 12 month low of $14.74 and a 12 month high of $22.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.60.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 14.16%. The company had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. AT&T’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AT&T will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.00%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.79%.

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.