AT&T (NYSE:T) Given New $28.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

AT&T (NYSE:T) had its price objective lifted by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $27.00 to $28.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the technology company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price indicates a potential upside of 5.12% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently commented on T. UBS Group increased their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Argus raised AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on AT&T in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. DZ Bank upgraded AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.50 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.79.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of T traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $26.64. The stock had a trading volume of 2,965,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,952,389. The company has a market capitalization of $191.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. AT&T has a 12-month low of $15.94 and a 12-month high of $27.97. The company’s 50-day moving average is $24.84 and its 200 day moving average is $23.18. 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 (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. On average, equities analysts predict that AT&T will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,858,418,000. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in AT&T by 37.3% during the fourth 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 period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in AT&T by 31.8% during 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 worth $1,216,665,000 after buying an additional 12,881,578 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in AT&T by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 78,148,354 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,779,438,000 after buying an additional 10,945,679 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its position 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 buying an additional 9,719,036 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.