Royal Bank of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $28.00 to $30.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the technology company's stock. Royal Bank of Canada's price objective suggests a potential upside of 8.64% from the company's previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on T. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Williams Trading set a $30.00 target price on AT&T in a report on Thursday. DZ Bank upgraded AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $31.00 price objective (up from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $28.48.

AT&T Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE T traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $27.61. The company had a trading volume of 21,781,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,615,328. AT&T has a one year low of $16.38 and a one year high of $29.03. The company has a market capitalization of $198.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.24.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth about $1,858,418,000. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in AT&T by 37.3% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,203,667,000 after purchasing an additional 26,280,866 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in AT&T by 31.8% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 12,881,578 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in AT&T by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 78,148,354 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,779,438,000 after buying 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 fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,913,960 shares of the technology company's stock worth $225,741,000 after buying an additional 9,719,036 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.