AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Up 2.1%

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) rose 2.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $22.19 and last traded at $22.10. Approximately 10,442,544 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 35,960,500 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.64.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on T shares. Scotiabank downgraded shares of AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Daiwa America raised AT&T to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of AT&T in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on AT&T from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.31.

AT&T Trading Up 2.8 %

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.19. The company has a market cap of $159.47 billion, a PE ratio of 11.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.57. AT&T had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 14.16%. The firm had revenue of $29.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is 59.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in T. Vantage Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in AT&T by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. Vantage Financial Partners LLC now owns 38,207 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $641,000 after purchasing an additional 7,762 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its position in shares of AT&T by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 31,130 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $522,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212 shares during the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in AT&T by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 27,770 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $466,000 after buying an additional 1,194 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in AT&T by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 27,253 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 4,870 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new position in AT&T during the fourth quarter worth $207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Company Profile

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.