AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Shares Sold by Empire Life Investments Inc.

Empire Life Investments Inc. lowered its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 40.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 533,867 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 363,702 shares during the quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $12,156,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in AT&T during the fourth quarter worth approximately $14,700,000. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in AT&T by 0.5% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 21,282,584 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $468,217,000 after purchasing an additional 104,700 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in AT&T by 41.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,947,913 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $168,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,326,904 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 195,991 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,312,000 after acquiring an additional 30,281 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 396,958 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,928,000 after acquiring an additional 26,706 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on T shares. DZ Bank raised shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.33.

AT&T Price Performance

AT&T stock opened at $25.88 on Friday. AT&T Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.94 and a 52 week high of $25.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.66 billion, a PE ratio of 17.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.29%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.50%.

AT&T Company 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.