AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading Up 1% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) rose 1% during mid-day trading on Monday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $29.50 to $30.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. AT&T traded as high as $27.51 and last traded at $27.24. 8,253,080 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 36,401,821 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.97.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on AT&T from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. TD Securities increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on AT&T from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $29.12.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 48,579 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 10,188 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in AT&T by 39.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 28,782 shares of the technology company's stock worth $655,000 after buying an additional 8,179 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in AT&T by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,251,244 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $28,491,000 after purchasing an additional 68,598 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its position in AT&T by 1,820.9% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 247,262 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,631,000 after acquiring an additional 234,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $694,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company's stock.

AT&T Trading Up 1.0%

The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.35. The company has a market capitalization of $196.04 billion, a PE ratio of 16.71, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.42.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 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 9.64% and a return on equity of 13.63%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. Analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.10%.

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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