AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Up 2.8%

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s share price shot up 2.8% on Monday . The company traded as high as $17.28 and last traded at $17.22. 12,774,973 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 39,065,184 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $18.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays upgraded AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $20.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.81.

AT&T Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $16.96 and its 200-day moving average is $16.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.81 billion, a PE ratio of 9.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. AT&T had a net margin of 11.13% and a return on equity of 14.63%. The company had revenue of $30.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.52%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in T. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,118,288,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 185.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 52,613,513 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $790,301,000 after purchasing an additional 34,189,954 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in AT&T by 130.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,515,546 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $863,884,000 after buying an additional 32,558,342 shares in the last quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $316,472,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 38.0% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 34,558,594 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $519,070,000 after buying an additional 9,518,478 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently 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.