AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock Price Up 1.8% - Should You Buy?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) shares shot up 1.8% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $28.65 and last traded at $28.60. 7,783,138 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 36,309,962 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.08.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Williams Trading set a $30.00 target price on AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $31.00 price target (up previously from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $28.90.

AT&T Stock Down 0.2%

The business's 50-day moving average is $27.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.70.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $30.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.39 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 9.64%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.84%. AT&T's payout ratio is 68.10%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of T. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AT&T during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in AT&T during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 182.1% in the 1st quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC now owns 993 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.