AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading 2.4% Higher – What’s Next?

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) were up 2.4% on Monday . The company traded as high as $24.32 and last traded at $24.29. Approximately 14,192,591 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 38,168,836 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.73.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on T shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Argus upgraded AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley raised AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $19.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. New Street Research raised AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.21.

AT&T Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $22.97 and its 200 day moving average is $21.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $175.63 billion, a PE ratio of 16.43, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at about $14,700,000. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of AT&T by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 21,282,584 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $468,217,000 after buying an additional 104,700 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 41.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,947,913 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $168,969,000 after buying an additional 2,326,904 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC grew its position in shares of AT&T by 18.3% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 195,991 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,312,000 after purchasing an additional 30,281 shares during the period. Finally, Talbot Financial LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $7,438,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.