AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading Up 0.2% – What’s Next?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shares shot up 0.2% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $22.46 and last traded at $22.34. 5,100,754 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 35,419,715 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.30.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on T. Redburn Atlantic raised AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.40.

AT&T Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $21.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The firm had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.50 billion. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.89%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.24%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in AT&T in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE raised its position in AT&T by 169.2% in the third quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 1,338 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the period. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 356.5% in the 2nd quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 1,429 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116 shares during the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of AT&T by 107.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AT&T Company Profile

AT&T Inc provides telecommunications and technology services worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Communications and Latin America. The Communications segment offers wireless voice and data communications services; and sells handsets, wireless data cards, wireless computing devices, carrying cases/protective covers, and wireless chargers through its own company-owned stores, agents, and third-party retail stores.