Zacks Investment Management Buys 305,804 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Zacks Investment Management raised its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,140,620 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 305,804 shares during the quarter. Zacks Investment Management’s holdings in AT&T were worth $69,094,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Chesapeake Wealth Management grew its stake in AT&T by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 24,304 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $535,000 after buying an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Socha Financial Group LLC grew its stake in AT&T by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Socha Financial Group LLC now owns 18,847 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in AT&T by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 34,468 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $759,000 after buying an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank grew its stake in AT&T by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 21,636 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hayek Kallen Investment Management grew its stake in AT&T by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management now owns 60,271 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,326,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on T shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.73.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of T opened at $23.88 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.35 billion, a PE ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a one year low of $15.94 and a one year high of $24.03.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.65%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 90.24%.

AT&T Profile

AT&T Inc provides telecommunications and technology services worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Communications and Latin America. The Communications segment offers wireless voice and data communications services; and sells handsets, wireless data cards, wireless computing devices, carrying cases/protective covers, and wireless chargers through its own company-owned stores, agents, and third-party retail stores.