AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading 0.6% Higher - Should You Buy?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) traded up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $27.50 and last traded at $27.49. 7,925,228 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 36,645,366 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.33.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of AT&T from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $28.50 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on AT&T from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Williams Trading set a $30.00 price objective on AT&T in a report on Thursday, April 24th. DZ Bank upgraded AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AT&T presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $28.71.

AT&T Stock Up 1.2%

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 stock has a market capitalization of $198.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.86.

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

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.01%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.10%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in T. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC grew its stake in AT&T by 9.1% in the first quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 18,805 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,566 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 7.7% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 6,177 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $175,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Royal Capital Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the first quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Ruggaard & Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the first quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Finally, Plancorp LLC boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 19.5% during the first quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 43,712 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,236,000 after buying an additional 7,133 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.

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