AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s stock price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $20.94 and traded as high as $22.78. AT&T shares last traded at $22.61, with a volume of 25,406,988 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on T shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.53.

AT&T Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.23 billion, a PE ratio of 18.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $22.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.94.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released 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. 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 last year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,306,930 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $182,752,000 after acquiring an additional 402,894 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS purchased a new position in AT&T during the third quarter worth about $1,042,000. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in AT&T in the 3rd quarter valued at about $217,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 140,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,080,000 after buying an additional 23,000 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 41.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,947,913 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $168,969,000 after buying an additional 2,326,904 shares during 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.