AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Up 1.5% – Still a Buy?

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shot up 1.5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $27.19 and last traded at $27.20. 17,051,290 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 50% from the average session volume of 34,009,969 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.79.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on T. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $28.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $19.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.79.

AT&T Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $192.93 billion, a PE ratio of 18.04, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.23.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. On average, research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter worth approximately $14,700,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 41.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,947,913 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $168,969,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326,904 shares in the last quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 320,089 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,288,000 after acquiring an additional 21,927 shares in the last quarter. Fortress Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter worth approximately $691,000. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 37,961 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $864,000 after acquiring an additional 15,680 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

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.