AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Down 3.5% – Here’s Why

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) fell 3.5% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $26.20 and last traded at $26.32. 18,523,659 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 40,601,773 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.28.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on T. Argus raised shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. New Street Research upgraded AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on AT&T from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $28.50 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.74.

AT&T Trading Up 1.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $187.24 billion, a PE ratio of 17.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. Analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,858,418,000. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in AT&T by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,203,667,000 after buying an additional 26,280,866 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in AT&T by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 53,432,827 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,216,665,000 after buying an additional 12,881,578 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 78,148,354 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,779,438,000 after acquiring an additional 10,945,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 4,986.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,913,960 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $225,741,000 after acquiring an additional 9,719,036 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

About AT&T

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.