AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Shares Bought by Eagle Asset Management Inc.

Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 30.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 832,999 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 195,314 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $18,609,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Investors Research Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 76,132 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,179 shares in the last quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. now owns 14,325 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the 3rd quarter valued at $503,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 9,400,282 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $206,806,000 after acquiring an additional 475,614 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trustmark National Bank Trust Department lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 158.3% during the 3rd quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 76,507 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,683,000 after acquiring an additional 46,891 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Price Performance

T opened at $23.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $166.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.94 and a fifty-two week high of $23.29. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $22.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.92. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. AT&T’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid 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 4.79%. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

T has been the topic of several analyst reports. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.40.

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.