AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Up 0.3%

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s stock price traded up 0.3% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $17.94 and last traded at $17.91. 3,958,413 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 36,653,773 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on T. Barclays upgraded shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $20.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Wolfe Research raised shares of AT&T from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. BNP Paribas upgraded AT&T from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.32.

AT&T Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.68. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $17.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.60.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 11.13%. The business had revenue of $30.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.29%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AT&T during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. First Pacific Financial raised its position in AT&T by 166.7% in the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 1,600 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in AT&T in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA lifted its holdings in AT&T by 35.3% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,322 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

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.