AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading Up 1.1% – Should You Buy?

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) rose 1.1% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $26.97 and last traded at $26.88. Approximately 9,913,996 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 38,464,844 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.57.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on T. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group lifted their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. New Street Research raised shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.33.

AT&T Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $23.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.54. 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 $197.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in T. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC boosted its holdings in AT&T by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 24,161 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of AT&T by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 26,161 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 48.6% in the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. BNP Paribas grew its position in AT&T by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 41,716 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $942,000 after buying an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in AT&T by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 59,394 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,352,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.