AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading 0.8% Higher - Here's Why

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) rose 0.8% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $25.85 and last traded at $25.84. Approximately 7,338,828 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 36,897,344 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.63.

Analyst Ratings Changes

T has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on AT&T in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $26.33.

AT&T Trading Up 1.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $185.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $23.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.08.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. Equities analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.29%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 622,809 shares of the technology company's stock worth $14,181,000 after buying an additional 69,362 shares in the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth $51,259,000. Redwood Financial Network Corp bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth $203,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth $2,839,000. Finally, Point72 Europe London LLP grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 429.7% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP now owns 3,469,677 shares of the technology company's stock worth $79,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,814,703 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AT&T Company Profile

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.