Ballentine Partners LLC Boosts Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,130 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,574 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $2,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in T. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 169.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 1,338 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of AT&T stock opened at $22.49 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $22.79 and a 200-day moving average of $21.37. 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 company has a market capitalization of $161.40 billion, a PE ratio of 18.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 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.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.93%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 90.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley upgraded AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.83.

AT&T Company 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.