AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading Up 0.4% on Analyst Upgrade

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 0.4% during trading on Monday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $27.00 to $30.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. AT&T traded as high as $27.08 and last traded at $26.93. Approximately 4,038,508 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 36,377,491 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.81.

Several other research firms have also commented on T. Argus upgraded shares of AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on AT&T from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $31.00 target price (up from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank increased their price target on AT&T from $29.00 to $29.50 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $28.62.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of T. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in AT&T by 48.6% in the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company's stock.

AT&T Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $26.96 and a 200 day moving average of $24.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $193.70 billion, a PE ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. The company had revenue of $30.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.39 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.11%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.10%.

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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