AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading Up 0.3%

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) was up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $18.75 and last traded at $18.73. Approximately 13,673,498 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 36,538,359 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.68.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

T has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays raised AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $20.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. BNP Paribas raised AT&T from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on AT&T in a research note on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.73.

AT&T Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.68. The company has a market capitalization of $134.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $17.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.23.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $30.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.62 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 11.13% and a return on equity of 14.63%. The firm’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.92%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 59.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. First Pacific Financial grew its stake in AT&T by 166.7% in the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 1,600 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in AT&T in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA increased its position in shares of AT&T by 35.3% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,322 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AT&T Company Profile

AT&T Inc provides telecommunications and technology services worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Communications and Latin America. The Communications segment offers wireless voice and data communications services; and sells handsets, wireless data cards, wireless computing devices, carrying cases/protective covers, and wireless chargers through its own company-owned stores, agents, and third-party retail stores.