Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Acquires 279,646 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 41.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 958,034 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 279,646 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in AT&T were worth $21,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in AT&T by 227.6% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 131,813 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 91,578 shares in the last quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 356.5% in the second quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 1,429 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,116 shares in the last quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE increased its holdings 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC raised its position in AT&T by 107.5% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in AT&T in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

T has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank lowered shares of AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.40.

AT&T Price Performance

T stock opened at $23.10 on Tuesday. AT&T Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.94 and a 12 month high of $23.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $22.04 and a 200-day moving average of $20.00.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The firm had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

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.