AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock Price Up 1.1% – Here’s Why

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) were up 1.1% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $27.17 and last traded at $27.04. Approximately 7,219,699 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 40,063,520 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.73.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. BNP Paribas raised AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $28.50 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup boosted their target price on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.74.

AT&T Trading Up 1.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $194.78 billion, a PE ratio of 18.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $24.22 and a 200 day moving average of $22.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.50%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in AT&T during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AT&T during the fourth quarter worth approximately $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 acquired a new position in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

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.