AT&T Trading At High Volumes As Barclays Issues Upgrade

Shares of AT&T surged 3.2% in active trade Tuesday, making it the biggest percentage gainer within the S&P 500. This followed a stock upgrade to outperform from equal weight at Barclays Capital, which cited optimism over the imminent closure of its acquisition of DirecTV . Barclays also raised its price target on the telecommunications company to $39 from $34. AT&T was the most-active stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange with 34.7 million shares traded as of 12 p.m. Eastern, which was already above the full-day average of 32.3 million, according to FactSet. The company's stock is also up 7.5% in the year-to-date, compared to the S&P 500, up 3.1% in the same period.