Blue Trust Inc. Grows Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 38.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 116,130 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,394 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $2,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in AT&T during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its stake in AT&T by 169.2% in the third quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 1,338 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares during the period. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in AT&T in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in AT&T during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

T has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. New Street Research upgraded shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target 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 objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Oppenheimer started coverage on AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $19.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AT&T currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.83.

AT&T Stock Up 6.2 %

Shares of T stock opened at $24.12 on Tuesday. AT&T Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.94 and a fifty-two week high of $24.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.05 billion, a PE ratio of 19.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.59. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.48.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. Equities analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.60%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.24%.

AT&T Profile

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.