AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Up 0.7% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) were up 0.7% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $22.31 and last traded at $22.20. Approximately 9,207,653 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 35,564,848 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.05.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on T shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.40.

AT&T Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $21.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.15 billion, a PE ratio of 18.15, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The business had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.97%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP acquired a new position in AT&T in the 2nd quarter worth $23,888,000. Talbot Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 3rd quarter worth about $7,438,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of AT&T by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,641,856 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,486,000 after buying an additional 288,093 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC grew its position in shares of AT&T by 642.2% during the 2nd quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 104,309 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,997,000 after buying an additional 90,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of AT&T by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,037,529 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $19,827,000 after buying an additional 43,062 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

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.