AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading 1% Higher – Here’s What Happened

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s share price rose 1% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $25.07 and last traded at $25.11. Approximately 9,385,302 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 37,031,762 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on T. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on AT&T in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. DZ Bank upgraded AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on AT&T from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.21.

AT&T Stock Up 1.2 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $23.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.90. The company has a market cap of $180.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.89, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 74.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 4,986.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,913,960 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $225,741,000 after purchasing an additional 9,719,036 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in AT&T by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 85,592,594 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,948,943,000 after buying an additional 5,649,277 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in AT&T by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 33,963,826 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $753,318,000 after acquiring an additional 5,614,168 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in AT&T by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 161,120,657 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,532,684,000 after acquiring an additional 3,630,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter worth $82,340,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

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.