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

Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 113.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,736 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,489 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $1,842,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 130,844 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,196,000 after purchasing an additional 29,757 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in AT&T by 16.9% during the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 32,833 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 4,750 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in AT&T during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $160,000. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA increased its stake in AT&T by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 55,108 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 20,002 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 2,186 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on T. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of AT&T in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Redburn Atlantic upgraded AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.69.

AT&T Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of T opened at $21.85 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $20.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.60. AT&T Inc. has a 12-month low of $14.74 and a 12-month high of $22.34.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.57. The company had revenue of $29.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.05 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 14.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.08%. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 59.68%.

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.