Investmark Advisory Group LLC Raises Stock Holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Investmark Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 2.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 139,057 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,635 shares during the quarter. AT&T accounts for 1.5% of Investmark Advisory Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Investmark Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $3,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of AT&T by 1,379.0% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,159,133 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $270,581,000 after purchasing an additional 13,201,774 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 43.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,853,624 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $414,563,000 after purchasing an additional 6,602,586 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 7.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 81,076,641 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,549,375,000 after purchasing an additional 5,592,123 shares during the last quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. raised its position in AT&T by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,988,396 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $477,528,000 after purchasing an additional 4,511,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in AT&T during the 2nd quarter worth $78,570,000. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on T shares. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Barclays lifted their target price on AT&T from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank cut shares of AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.53.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of T opened at $23.27 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $22.17 and a 200 day moving average of $20.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. AT&T Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.94 and a 12 month high of $23.38. The company has a market capitalization of $166.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.46, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The business had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.77%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

About AT&T

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.