AT&T (NYSE:T) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $23.30 and last traded at $23.10, with a volume of 363453 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.18.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

T has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on AT&T from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AT&T presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.40.

AT&T Stock Down 0.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $22.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The business had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is 90.24%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AT&T by 2.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 161,120,657 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,532,684,000 after buying an additional 3,630,972 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in AT&T by 7.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 81,076,641 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,549,375,000 after acquiring an additional 5,592,123 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in AT&T by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 60,986,064 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,341,693,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149,688 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 60,109,127 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,148,689,000 after purchasing an additional 1,569,374 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,558,884 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $985,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007,228 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 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.