AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading 1.5% Higher - Still a Buy?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) shares traded up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $27.96 and last traded at $27.94. 5,952,216 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 36,241,700 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on T. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $31.00 price target (up previously from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded AT&T from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $28.50 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $28.71.

AT&T Stock Up 2.4 %

The company's 50 day moving average is $27.08 and its 200 day moving average is $24.60. The company has a market cap of $202.71 billion, a PE ratio of 18.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $30.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.39 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.10%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in AT&T by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 642,859,644 shares of the technology company's stock worth $14,637,914,000 after buying an additional 6,220,442 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 163,761,301 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,719,723,000 after acquiring an additional 2,640,644 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,203,667,000 after acquiring an additional 26,280,866 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of AT&T by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 85,592,594 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,948,943,000 after purchasing an additional 5,649,277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AT&T in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,858,418,000. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company's stock.

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.

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