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

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 679,118 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,005% compared to the typical daily volume of 61,437 call options.

AT&T Price Performance

AT&T stock opened at $22.20 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.29 billion, a PE ratio of 18.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T has a 12 month low of $15.94 and a 12 month high of $24.03. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The business’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that AT&T will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.24%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in T. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in AT&T by 227.6% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 131,813 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 91,578 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 169.2% in the third quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 1,338 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in AT&T during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in AT&T during the third quarter worth $35,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Redburn Atlantic raised AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.76.

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.