AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Up 0.9% – Here’s Why

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s stock price shot up 0.9% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $26.39 and last traded at $26.40. 9,145,190 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 36,924,965 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.15.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on T. Citigroup lifted their price target on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer began coverage on AT&T in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on AT&T from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.33.

AT&T Price Performance

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 company has a market cap of $191.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.88, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $23.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.30.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.17%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in AT&T by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 642,859,644 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $14,637,914,000 after acquiring an additional 6,220,442 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in AT&T by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 163,761,301 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,719,723,000 after acquiring an additional 2,640,644 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in AT&T by 37.3% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,203,667,000 after acquiring an additional 26,280,866 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in AT&T by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 85,592,594 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,948,943,000 after acquiring an additional 5,649,277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in AT&T during the 4th quarter worth $1,858,418,000. Institutional investors 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.