Wedmont Private Capital Raises Stock Holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 68.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 114,220 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 46,271 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in AT&T were worth $2,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in AT&T by 1,379.0% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,159,133 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $270,581,000 after buying an additional 13,201,774 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 43.3% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 161,120,657 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,532,684,000 after purchasing an additional 3,630,972 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in AT&T by 110.3% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,155,046 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $117,623,000 after purchasing an additional 3,228,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in AT&T by 1,901.0% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,166,814 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $60,518,000 after purchasing an additional 3,008,549 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AT&T Price Performance

NYSE:T traded down $0.21 on Monday, reaching $21.48. The stock had a trading volume of 17,478,730 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,246,311. The company has a market capitalization of $154.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.94 and a 1-year high of $24.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $22.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. AT&T’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on T. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $19.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.76.

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.