AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Up 2.2% – Should You Buy?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shot up 2.2% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $27.56 and last traded at $27.55. 10,449,619 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 34,285,727 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.96.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on T shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Argus raised AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays lifted their target price on AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.79.

AT&T Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $195.78 billion, a PE ratio of 18.31, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. Equities analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of AT&T

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AT&T during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.