AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading Up 1.3% - Time to Buy?

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) shot up 1.3% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $27.87 and last traded at $27.84. 6,888,739 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 36,295,584 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.47.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on T shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price 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. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $31.00 price objective (up from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on AT&T from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. BNP Paribas upgraded AT&T from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $28.50 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AT&T presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $28.71.

AT&T Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $27.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.80. The company has a market capitalization of $190.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The company had revenue of $30.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. AT&T's payout ratio is 68.10%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of T. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 1,555,744 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $35,424,000 after buying an additional 95,089 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in AT&T by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,021 shares of the technology company's stock worth $593,000 after acquiring an additional 902 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC grew its stake in AT&T by 259.7% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 71,666 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,632,000 after acquiring an additional 51,742 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 130,888 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,980,000 after purchasing an additional 16,978 shares during the period. Finally, City State Bank lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. City State Bank now owns 20,543 shares of the technology company's stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148 shares in 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.