Vertex Planning Partners LLC Grows Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Vertex Planning Partners LLC grew its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 15.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,752 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,729 shares during the quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at about $14,700,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $168,969,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326,904 shares during the period. Consolidated Planning Corp increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 320,089 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,288,000 after purchasing an additional 21,927 shares during the period. Fortress Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth about $691,000. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. increased its holdings in AT&T by 70.4% in the 4th quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 37,961 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $864,000 after buying an additional 15,680 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE T opened at $28.20 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.41 billion, a PE ratio of 18.92, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. AT&T Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.94 and a twelve month high of $28.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.47.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on T. DZ Bank upgraded shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. New Street Research raised AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on AT&T from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $28.50 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.79.

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.