AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Up 0.7% - Here's What Happened

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) shares were up 0.7% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $21.45 and last traded at $21.36. Approximately 4,664,279 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 35,590,156 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.22.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on T. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on AT&T in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Scotiabank cut AT&T from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on AT&T from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.38.

AT&T Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.79. The company has a market capitalization of $153.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.16% and a net margin of 10.41%. The firm had revenue of $29.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.19%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in AT&T by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 624,994,998 shares of the technology company's stock worth $10,999,912,000 after purchasing an additional 2,588,539 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in AT&T by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 81,076,641 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,549,375,000 after purchasing an additional 5,592,123 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of AT&T by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 60,109,127 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,148,689,000 after buying an additional 1,569,374 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of AT&T by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,558,884 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $985,307,000 after buying an additional 1,007,228 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management raised its position in shares of AT&T by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 30,092,610 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $575,070,000 after buying an additional 315,580 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AT&T Company Profile

AT&T Inc provides telecommunications and technology services worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Communications and Latin America. The Communications segment offers wireless voice and data communications services; and sells handsets, wireless data cards, wireless computing devices, carrying cases/protective covers, and wireless chargers through its own company-owned stores, agents, and third-party retail stores.