AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Up 0.8%

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) traded up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $20.67 and last traded at $20.59. 10,696,218 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 35,430,363 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.43.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on T. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on AT&T in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.06.

AT&T Stock Up 0.2 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $19.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market cap of $146.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released 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 business had revenue of $29.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.42%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 59.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at $1,118,288,000. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at about $316,472,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 1,379.0% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,159,133 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $270,581,000 after buying an additional 13,201,774 shares during the last quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth about $152,109,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 43.3% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,853,624 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $414,563,000 after acquiring an additional 6,602,586 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About AT&T

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.