AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading 1.4% Higher – Time to Buy?

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) traded up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $27.75 and last traded at $27.69. 7,758,701 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 34,219,085 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.31.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on T shares. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.79.

AT&T Price Performance

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 has a market cap of $202.40 billion, a PE ratio of 18.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s 50 day moving average is $25.59 and its 200-day moving average is $23.47.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.50%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 908.3% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 42,309 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $931,000 after buying an additional 38,113 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in AT&T by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 546,710 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,028,000 after acquiring an additional 6,071 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 38.1% during the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 1,289,648 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,372,000 after purchasing an additional 355,527 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in shares of AT&T by 9.3% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,174,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $47,828,000 after buying an additional 184,900 shares during the period. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 34.9% in the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 148,740 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,272,000 after purchasing an additional 38,444 shares during the period. 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.