AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Up 1.4% – Should You Buy?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s share price was up 1.4% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $27.07 and last traded at $26.99. Approximately 12,637,616 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 37,624,715 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.62.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on T. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays boosted their target price 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.33.

AT&T Stock Up 0.4 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $191.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $23.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.32.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,858,418,000. GQG Partners LLC grew 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 worth $2,203,667,000 after buying an additional 26,280,866 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 12,881,578 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position 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 valued at $1,779,438,000 after acquiring an additional 10,945,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 9,719,036 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.