AT&T (NYSE:T) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of AT&T (NYSE:T) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Williams Trading set a $30.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday. BNP Paribas upgraded AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $28.50 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.62.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:T opened at $26.80 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. AT&T has a 1-year low of $16.73 and a 1-year high of $29.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $192.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $26.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.35.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.01). AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. The business had revenue of $30.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.39 billion. Equities analysts predict that AT&T will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.10%.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at $1,858,418,000. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 37.3% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,203,667,000 after buying an additional 26,280,866 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in AT&T by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 53,432,827 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,216,665,000 after buying an additional 12,881,578 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in AT&T by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 78,148,354 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,779,438,000 after acquiring an additional 10,945,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in AT&T by 4,986.1% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,913,960 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $225,741,000 after acquiring an additional 9,719,036 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.