Eagle Asset Management Inc. Raises Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 30.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 832,999 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 195,314 shares during the quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $18,609,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in T. Chesapeake Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of AT&T by 1.9% during the third quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 24,304 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $535,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the period. Socha Financial Group LLC lifted its position in AT&T by 2.5% in the third quarter. Socha Financial Group LLC now owns 18,847 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the period. Essex Savings Bank lifted its position in AT&T by 2.3% in the third quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 21,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Hayek Kallen Investment Management lifted its position in AT&T by 0.8% in the third quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management now owns 60,271 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Aviance Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in AT&T by 2.1% in the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 24,389 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on T. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank cut shares of AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Moffett Nathanson increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AT&T has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.40.

AT&T Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE T opened at $23.18 on Friday. AT&T Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.94 and a 1 year high of $23.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $22.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.92. The firm has a market cap of $166.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73.

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

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.79%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.24%.

AT&T Company 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.