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

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors acquired 102,083 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 56% compared to the typical volume of 65,277 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of T. Chesapeake Wealth Management grew its position in shares of AT&T by 1.9% during the third quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 24,304 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. now owns 16,905 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Socha Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of AT&T by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Socha Financial Group LLC now owns 18,847 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 34,468 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $759,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Essex Savings Bank increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 21,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $476,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of T traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $22.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 43,626,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,160,289. The company has a market cap of $162.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T has a 52-week low of $15.94 and a 52-week high of $24.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.41.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its earnings results 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 for 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 firm’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that AT&T will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.89%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on T. Argus upgraded shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. New Street Research upgraded AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of AT&T from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AT&T has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.83.

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.