AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Up 0.6% – Still a Buy?

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) traded up 0.6% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $22.40 and last traded at $22.39. 7,161,780 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 35,362,418 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.25.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on AT&T from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price objective on AT&T from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.40.

AT&T Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $162.66 billion, a PE ratio of 18.20, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50 day moving average of $21.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid 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 4.90%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the second quarter valued at $23,888,000. Talbot Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the third quarter valued at $7,438,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 12.2% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,641,856 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,486,000 after purchasing an additional 288,093 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 642.2% during the second quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 104,309 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,997,000 after purchasing an additional 90,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 7.2% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 396,958 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,928,000 after purchasing an additional 26,706 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About AT&T

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.