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

Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 18.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 99,506 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 15,770 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $2,266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 305.1% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,541,724 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,918,000 after acquiring an additional 1,161,152 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in AT&T by 2.8% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,564,777 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,413,000 after purchasing an additional 43,218 shares during the period. Marshall Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in AT&T during the third quarter valued at $317,000. Secure Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 11.4% during the third quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 40,539 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $892,000 after purchasing an additional 4,137 shares during the period. Finally, Bar Harbor Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 31,840 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $700,000 after buying an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on T. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on AT&T in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $28.50 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.33.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:T opened at $25.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $185.66 billion, a PE ratio of 17.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.59. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $23.23 and a 200-day moving average of $22.04. AT&T Inc. has a one year low of $15.94 and a one year high of $25.93.

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

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.50%.

About AT&T

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.