AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock Price Up 0.4% – Should You Buy?

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) were up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $27.49 and last traded at $27.12. 24,758,386 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 32% from the average daily volume of 36,672,389 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.02.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

T has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank upped their target price on AT&T from $28.50 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Argus raised shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Monday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.24.

AT&T Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $26.80 and a 200 day moving average of $24.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $194.67 billion, a PE ratio of 18.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,858,418,000. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 37.3% in the 4th 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 stake in shares of AT&T by 31.8% in 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 valued at $1,216,665,000 after buying an additional 12,881,578 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in AT&T by 16.3% during the fourth 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 position in AT&T by 4,986.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,913,960 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $225,741,000 after acquiring an additional 9,719,036 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.