AT&T (NYSE:T) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on T. Citigroup raised 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 AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays upped their target price on AT&T from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.40.

AT&T Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.02 and a 200 day moving average of $19.96. The stock has a market cap of $165.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. AT&T’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. Equities analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 161,120,657 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,532,684,000 after acquiring an additional 3,630,972 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 5,592,123 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in AT&T by 1.9% during the third 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 boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 2.7% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 60,109,127 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,148,689,000 after buying an additional 1,569,374 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,558,884 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $985,307,000 after buying an additional 1,007,228 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

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.