Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on AT&T (NYSE:T)

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders bought 502,823 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 796% compared to the typical volume of 56,142 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on T. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $33.00 price target (up from $31.00) on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Arete Research set a $20.00 target price on AT&T in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.42.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Front Row Advisors LLC bought a new position in AT&T in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 363.7% during the third quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. now owns 895 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. GGM Financials LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in AT&T in the second quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank lifted its stake in AT&T by 412.1% in the second quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 973 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 783 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AT&T Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE T traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $24.00. 24,445,977 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 41,359,281. The company has a market capitalization of $170.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $24.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.81. AT&T has a 52-week low of $21.38 and a 52-week high of $29.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54. AT&T had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 17.87%.The company had revenue of $30.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.85 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that AT&T will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be given a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.04%.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc is a global telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and digital entertainment services. Its core activities include consumer and business wireless services, broadband and fiber internet, and network infrastructure. The company operates branded wireless services through AT&T Mobility and deploys fixed-line and fiber networks to deliver high-speed internet and related home services.

AT&T’s product and service portfolio spans mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and device sales, home internet (including fiber-to-the-home where available), and managed connectivity solutions for enterprise customers.