AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock Price Up 0.8% – Still a Buy?

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) were up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $25.58 and last traded at $25.58. Approximately 8,494,012 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 37,019,914 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.36.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays increased their target price on AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $19.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AT&T has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.33.

AT&T Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $185.66 billion, a PE ratio of 17.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a fifty day moving average of $23.23 and a 200-day moving average of $22.04.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. Equities research analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AT&T by 48.6% in the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in AT&T in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE increased its stake in AT&T by 169.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 1,338 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.