AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Up 0.2% – Time to Buy?

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) traded up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $25.24 and last traded at $25.19. 7,375,334 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 36,858,961 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.15.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

T has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays raised their price target on AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, New Street Research raised shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.21.

AT&T Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $23.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. As a group, research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in AT&T in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 169.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 1,338 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its position in AT&T by 48.6% during the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.