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

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) was up 0.9% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $26.87 and last traded at $26.63. Approximately 7,982,136 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 36,838,783 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.39.

Analyst Ratings Changes

T has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. 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 note on Tuesday. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $19.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. One equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AT&T has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.24.

AT&T Stock Up 1.4 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $26.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.50%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,858,418,000. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 37.3% during 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 buying an additional 26,280,866 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in AT&T by 31.8% during 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 worth $1,216,665,000 after acquiring an additional 12,881,578 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in AT&T by 16.3% in the 4th 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. raised its holdings in AT&T by 4,986.1% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,913,960 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $225,741,000 after acquiring an additional 9,719,036 shares during the last quarter. 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.