Sentry Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Sentry Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 216.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 29,512 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,196 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $672,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of T. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in AT&T by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 161,120,657 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,532,684,000 after purchasing an additional 3,630,972 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 1.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 60,986,064 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,341,693,000 after buying an additional 1,149,688 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of AT&T by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 21,282,584 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $468,217,000 after buying an additional 104,700 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 17,543,563 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $399,467,000 after buying an additional 325,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 15.8% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 15,769,707 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $346,934,000 after buying an additional 2,152,016 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE T opened at $26.74 on Tuesday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $23.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.38. AT&T Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.94 and a 52-week high of $27.13. The firm has a market cap of $191.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. Research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.15%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on T shares. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. DZ Bank upgraded AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on AT&T from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.33.

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.