AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock Price Up 0.4% – What’s Next?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shot up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $27.05 and last traded at $26.76. 27,122,126 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 26% from the average session volume of 36,425,331 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.64.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on T shares. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $28.50 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on AT&T from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.21.

AT&T Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $192.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.99, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.80.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 4.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is 74.50%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the third quarter worth $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.