AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Up 0.1%

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s share price traded up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $18.92 and last traded at $18.84. 4,345,508 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 36,599,363 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.82.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of AT&T in a report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.73.

AT&T Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $17.71 and its 200-day moving average is $17.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.94 billion, a PE ratio of 10.04, a P/E/G ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $30.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.62 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 11.13% and a return on equity of 14.63%. The company’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.94%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is 59.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in T. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. First Pacific Financial raised its position in shares of AT&T by 166.7% in the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 1,600 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA raised its position in shares of AT&T by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,322 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AT&T Company Profile

AT&T Inc provides telecommunications and technology services worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Communications and Latin America. The Communications segment offers wireless voice and data communications services; and sells handsets, wireless data cards, wireless computing devices, carrying cases/protective covers, and wireless chargers through its own company-owned stores, agents, and third-party retail stores.