AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Up 1.8% – Here’s Why

Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) rose 1.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $28.01 and last traded at $27.9680. Approximately 53,829,681 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 16% from the average daily volume of 46,595,719 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.46.

AT&T News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting AT&T this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat and FY‑2026 guidance: AT&T topped Q4 EPS and revenue expectations and issued FY2026 EPS guidance, which helped spark a post‑earnings rally and has the stock up materially since the report. AT&T (T) Up 9.3% Since Last Earnings Report: Can It Continue?
• Positive Sentiment: Communications segment strength: management cited solid momentum in the Communications business (2025 revenues higher vs. 2024), supporting near‑term revenue stability. T Benefits From Strong Communications Growth: Will it Sustain?
• Positive Sentiment: Fiber strategy validated: an Ookla award and related coverage highlight that AT&T’s fiber footprint is competitive where it exists, supporting the long‑term broadband growth story. AT&T says Ookla fiber award validates strategy — ‘Where we have fiber, we win’
• Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell in February, reducing one source of downside pressure and signaling less bearish positioning ahead of further catalysts. (Internal short‑interest update)
• Neutral Sentiment: NYC lawsuit settled: AT&T agreed to let shareholders vote on a workforce‑diversity disclosure proposal, resolving litigation risk but increasing governance/disclosure obligations. AT&T settles New York City lawsuit over diversity proposal
• Negative Sentiment: $177M data‑breach settlement: AT&T faces a material payout tied to a past breach, which is an earnings/CF headwind and a reminder of litigation exposures. AT&T settlement update: Payout for $177M data breach
• Negative Sentiment: Technical and balance‑sheet cautions: analysts and MarketBeat flag overbought/RSI reversal risk, leverage concerns tied to recent acquisitions, and potential downside to moving averages — factors that have driven short‑term pullbacks. AT&T’s Earnings Glow-Up Can’t Hide These Red Flags
• Negative Sentiment: Recent intraday weakness and relative underperformance vs. the Dow: coverage noted a recent pullback and longer‑term lag versus the index, which may temper enthusiasm among momentum investors. Here’s Why AT&T (T) Fell More Than Broader Market

Analysts Set New Price Targets

T has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research lowered AT&T from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on AT&T from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 19th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Williams Trading set a $32.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.93.

AT&T Trading Up 1.8%

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $25.55 and a 200 day moving average of $26.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $195.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.17, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.39.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.91 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 12.33% and a net margin of 17.47%.The company’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. AT&T has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.350 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 12th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 12th. AT&T’s payout ratio is presently 36.39%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Csenge Advisory Group increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 20.3% in the third quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 189,293 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,346,000 after purchasing an additional 31,935 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 0.4% during the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 12,810,872 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $361,779,000 after purchasing an additional 49,727 shares during the period. Tredje AP fonden boosted its position in AT&T by 1.8% in the second quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 1,221,395 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,347,000 after buying an additional 21,720 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its holdings in AT&T by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 1,411,031 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,848,000 after buying an additional 66,448 shares during the period. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new position in AT&T in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,221,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Company Profile

AT&T Inc is a global telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and digital entertainment services. Its core activities include consumer and business wireless services, broadband and fiber internet, and network infrastructure. The company operates branded wireless services through AT&T Mobility and deploys fixed-line and fiber networks to deliver high-speed internet and related home services.

AT&T’s product and service portfolio spans mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and device sales, home internet (including fiber-to-the-home where available), and managed connectivity solutions for enterprise customers.