AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading 0.9% Higher - Here's What Happened

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 0.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $26.39 and last traded at $26.40. 9,145,190 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 36,924,965 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.15.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DZ Bank upgraded shares of AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. BNP Paribas upgraded 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. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $26.33.

AT&T Trading Up 1.6 %

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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.23. The company has a market cap of $190.69 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.59.

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

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.18%. AT&T's payout ratio is 74.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Perennial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter worth approximately $230,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter worth approximately $78,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 135.7% during the fourth quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 46,010 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,048,000 after buying an additional 26,491 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 83.3% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 7,254,746 shares of the technology company's stock worth $165,191,000 after buying an additional 3,297,211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 39.2% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 156,081 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,554,000 after buying an additional 43,966 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AT&T

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.

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