Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on AT&T (NYSE:T)

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders acquired 106,815 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 31% compared to the average volume of 81,675 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of T. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,858,418,000. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in AT&T by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $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 lifted its stake in AT&T by 31.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 12,881,578 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in AT&T by 16.3% during 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. grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 4,986.1% in 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 in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AT&T Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE:T opened at $26.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.85. AT&T has a 12 month low of $15.94 and a 12 month high of $29.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.67, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. Analysts expect that AT&T will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is 74.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

T has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas raised AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $28.50 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $28.50 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.24.

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.