AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Up 1.9% – What’s Next?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s stock price rose 1.9% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $28.15 and last traded at $28.19. Approximately 10,216,090 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 34,260,761 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.65.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on T shares. New Street Research raised AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. DZ Bank raised shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of AT&T in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.79.

AT&T Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. 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 announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of T. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC lifted its holdings in AT&T by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 24,161 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $550,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the period. Buska Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of AT&T by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Buska Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,391 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 26,161 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the period. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 48.6% during the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas grew its stake in AT&T by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 41,716 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $942,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

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.