AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Shares Bought by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 20.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 80,656 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,611 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $1,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its stake in AT&T by 169.2% during the third quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 1,338 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in AT&T during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in AT&T in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on T. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.21.

AT&T Stock Performance

T stock opened at $24.56 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $23.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.81. AT&T Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.94 and a 12 month high of $24.98. The company has a market capitalization of $176.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.52%. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 74.50%.

AT&T Profile

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.