AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock Price Up 0.1% Following Dividend Announcement

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Friday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $28.51 and last traded at $28.23. 9,686,804 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 34,285,527 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.20.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on T. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. BNP Paribas upgraded AT&T from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $28.50 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $27.00.

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AT&T Stock Performance

The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $25.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.54. The company has a market capitalization of $203.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in AT&T in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in AT&T during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors 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.