AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading Up 0.6% – What’s Next?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shares traded up 0.6% on Friday . The company traded as high as $22.40 and last traded at $22.39. 7,161,780 shares traded 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays lifted their target price on AT&T from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Redburn Atlantic raised AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.40.

AT&T Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $21.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.71. The company has a market cap of $162.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The firm had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.89%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 90.24%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in T. TIAA Trust National Association increased its holdings in AT&T by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 253,244 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,457,000 after acquiring an additional 25,155 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN raised its position in shares of AT&T by 14.9% in the first quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 16,315 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 2,116 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in AT&T by 30.3% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,678 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 622 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its stake in AT&T by 13.5% during the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 40,623 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $715,000 after buying an additional 4,841 shares during the period. Finally, Alerus Financial NA grew its position in AT&T by 0.9% during the first quarter. Alerus Financial NA now owns 430,289 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,573,000 after buying an additional 3,777 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

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.