AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock Price Up 1.4% - Here's What Happened

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 1.4% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $27.75 and last traded at $27.69. 7,758,701 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 34,219,085 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.31.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

T has been the topic of several research analyst reports. New Street Research raised AT&T from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised AT&T from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. DZ Bank upgraded AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $28.50 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.79.

AT&T Price Performance

The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $25.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.51. The firm has a market cap of $202.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

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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 (EPS) 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth about $1,858,418,000. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in AT&T by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,203,667,000 after acquiring an additional 26,280,866 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in AT&T by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 53,432,827 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,216,665,000 after acquiring an additional 12,881,578 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in AT&T by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 78,148,354 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,779,438,000 after purchasing an additional 10,945,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 4,986.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,913,960 shares of the technology company's stock worth $225,741,000 after purchasing an additional 9,719,036 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.