AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading 0.6% Higher

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shares shot up 0.6% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $17.39 and last traded at $17.37. 5,068,648 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 37,167,352 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on T shares. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $18.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com cut AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.81.

AT&T Stock Up 0.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $125.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.57. 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 fifty day moving average price of $17.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.84.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. The firm 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 for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.35%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sora Investors LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the third quarter worth approximately $11,265,000. Provence Wealth Management Group grew its stake in AT&T by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 16,217 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 5,807 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 38,929 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $585,000 after buying an additional 1,178 shares during the last quarter. Retireful LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter worth $1,163,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 46,265 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $776,000 after acquiring an additional 5,161 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About AT&T

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.