AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading Up 0.3% – Here’s What Happened

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s share price traded up 0.3% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $27.23 and last traded at $27.21. 10,905,460 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 40,038,426 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.12.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on T. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on AT&T from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Oppenheimer began coverage on AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their price target on AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Argus upgraded AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.74.

AT&T Price Performance

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 business has a fifty day moving average of $24.30 and a 200 day moving average of $22.84. The firm has a market cap of $195.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.32, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is presently 74.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AT&T during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,858,418,000. GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,203,667,000 after acquiring an additional 26,280,866 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 31.8% in the fourth 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 valued at $1,216,665,000 after acquiring an additional 12,881,578 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased 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 worth $1,779,438,000 after acquiring an additional 10,945,679 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its position in AT&T by 4,986.1% during 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 during the period. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.