AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock Jumps 2.5% - Here's Why

Key Points

• AT&T shares rose 2.5% to $21.45 in active trading, despite recent mixed analyst actions. The stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $28.55.
• AT&T’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $0.65 versus the $0.60 consensus and revenue of $32.32 billion versus $31.69 billion expected; revenue increased 5.2% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.2775, equivalent to $1.11 annually and a 5.2% yield. Institutional investors own 57.1% of AT&T shares, with several major firms recently increasing their stakes.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) shares rose 2.5% during mid-day trading on Friday. The stock traded as high as $21.59 and last traded at $21.45. Approximately 52,117,458 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 6% from the average session volume of 48,985,191 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.92.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

T has been the subject of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of AT&T from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $24.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. KeyCorp cut their price target on AT&T from $36.00 to $33.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Barclays decreased their target price on AT&T from $24.00 to $21.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of AT&T from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $26.00 to $30.00 in a report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on AT&T from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $28.55.

AT&T Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $144.50 billion, a PE ratio of 11.59, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $24.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.97.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.05. AT&T had a net margin of 10.19% and a return on equity of 13.41%. The business had revenue of $32.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 12th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is 60.00%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in AT&T by 5.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 334,273,613 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,919,464,000 after buying an additional 18,468,679 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in AT&T by 4.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 125,191,700 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,629,307,000 after buying an additional 5,449,222 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in AT&T by 3.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 75,323,574 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,559,198,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559,065 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,223,364,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in AT&T by 2.5% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 55,616,152 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,151,254,000 after acquiring an additional 1,336,556 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company's stock.

AT&T Company Profile

AT&T Inc NYSE: T is a telecommunications company that provides wireless communications, broadband, and related connectivity services. Its offerings include mobile voice and data plans, internet access, fiber broadband, fixed wireless services, and business communications solutions.

The company serves consumers, businesses, government agencies, and other organizations primarily in the United States. AT&T’s business operations include wireless network services, wireline connectivity, fiber-optic internet, voice services, and networking solutions designed to connect locations, devices, and applications.

AT&T traces its history to the Bell System and has operated under its current corporate name since 2005, following the acquisition of AT&T Corp.

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