Investors Buy Large Volume of AT&T Put Options (NYSE:T)

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 93,728 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 37% compared to the average volume of 68,533 put options.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of T stock opened at $26.65 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $191.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.88, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.59. 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 has a 52 week low of $15.94 and a 52 week high of $27.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.43.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AT&T will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is 74.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in T. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in AT&T during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AT&T by 48.6% in the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

T has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group lifted their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Scotiabank increased their price target on AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Argus upgraded AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.33.

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.