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

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Investors purchased 502,823 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 796% compared to the typical daily volume of 56,142 call options.

AT&T Stock Down 0.7%

T traded down $0.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $24.00. 24,445,977 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 41,359,281. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.96. AT&T has a fifty-two week low of $21.38 and a fifty-two week high of $29.79. The stock has a market cap of $170.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.39.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.54. AT&T had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 17.87%.The business had revenue of $30.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AT&T will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Front Row Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. raised its stake in AT&T by 363.7% during the third quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. now owns 895 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the second quarter valued at $26,000. GGM Financials LLC bought a new position in AT&T during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Solstein Capital LLC boosted its position in AT&T by 217.3% in the second quarter. Solstein Capital LLC now owns 952 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

T has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of AT&T from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on AT&T from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of AT&T from $32.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Williams Trading set a $33.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.42.

AT&T Company Profile

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.