AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading Up 0.6% - Here's What Happened

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) shares rose 0.6% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $26.04 and last traded at $26.02. Approximately 10,068,070 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 36,840,930 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.87.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

T has been the subject of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised shares of AT&T from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $28.50 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Argus upgraded shares of AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of AT&T from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $26.33.

AT&T Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $191.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.59. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $23.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.23.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. Sell-side analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.17%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in AT&T by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 26,161 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in AT&T by 48.6% during the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the technology company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas lifted its holdings in AT&T by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 41,716 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in shares of AT&T by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 59,394 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,352,000 after buying an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthstream Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of AT&T by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 12,383 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company's stock.

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.