AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Shares Acquired by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 2.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 280,341 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,689 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $6,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 227.6% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 131,813 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 91,578 shares during the last quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. raised its stake in AT&T by 356.5% during the 2nd quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 1,429 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116 shares in the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC boosted its position in AT&T by 107.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 176.6% during the second quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 1,867 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of T opened at $22.22 on Friday. AT&T Inc. has a one year low of $15.75 and a one year high of $22.73. The company has a 50-day moving average of $21.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $159.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted 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 analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on T shares. 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 research report on Thursday, October 24th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of AT&T to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup boosted their target price on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Moffett Nathanson lifted their price target on AT&T from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of AT&T 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.40.

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.