AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Up 1.9% – Here’s What Happened

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shares were up 1.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $28.15 and last traded at $28.19. Approximately 10,216,090 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 34,260,761 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on T shares. DZ Bank raised AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $19.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.79.

AT&T Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $202.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.51.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. AT&T’s payout ratio is presently 74.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AT&T in the fourth quarter worth $1,858,418,000. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of AT&T by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,203,667,000 after buying an additional 26,280,866 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in AT&T by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 53,432,827 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,216,665,000 after buying an additional 12,881,578 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in AT&T by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 78,148,354 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,779,438,000 after acquiring an additional 10,945,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased 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 worth $225,741,000 after acquiring an additional 9,719,036 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.