AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Up 1.5% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shot up 1.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $27.44 and last traded at $27.42. 5,882,849 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 36,562,015 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.02.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on T shares. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $28.50 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com cut AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. DZ Bank raised shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Argus upgraded 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 Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.24.

AT&T Trading Up 0.4 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.14. The company has a market capitalization of $194.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

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 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, analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.09%. AT&T’s payout ratio is presently 74.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Next Level Private LLC boosted its stake in AT&T by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Next Level Private LLC now owns 113,379 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,206,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 24,161 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $550,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its position in AT&T by 9.4% during the first quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 4,617 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the period. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in AT&T by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,114 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charter Oak Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in AT&T by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC now owns 15,246 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

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.