AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading 0.7% Higher – Still a Buy?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shares were up 0.7% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $21.45 and last traded at $21.36. Approximately 4,664,279 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 35,590,156 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.22.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on T shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on AT&T from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Redburn Atlantic raised AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on AT&T in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.38.

AT&T Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $153.23 billion, a PE ratio of 12.28, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $20.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.83.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.16% and a net margin of 10.41%. The business had revenue of $29.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.19%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 63.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in AT&T during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 227.6% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 131,813 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 91,578 shares during the last quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 356.5% in the second quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 1,429 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,116 shares during the period. American Capital Advisory LLC raised its holdings in AT&T by 107.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

About AT&T

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.