Kentucky Trust Co Takes Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 98,641 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,246,000. AT&T accounts for about 1.3% of Kentucky Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter worth $14,700,000. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 21,282,584 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $468,217,000 after buying an additional 104,700 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 41.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,947,913 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $168,969,000 after buying an additional 2,326,904 shares during 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 worth $4,312,000 after buying an additional 30,281 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $8,928,000 after buying an additional 26,706 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on T. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. 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, December 4th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. DZ Bank raised shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Argus raised shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.21.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:T opened at $25.16 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $23.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.90. AT&T Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.94 and a fifty-two week high of $25.18. The firm has a market cap of $180.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.