Griffin Asset Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 116,818 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 692 shares during the quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $2,660,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in T. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at $14,700,000. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 21,282,584 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $468,217,000 after purchasing an additional 104,700 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in AT&T by 41.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,947,913 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $168,969,000 after buying an additional 2,326,904 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in AT&T by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 195,991 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,312,000 after purchasing an additional 30,281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Talbot Financial LLC acquired a new position in AT&T during the third quarter worth $7,438,000. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

T has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. New Street Research upgraded shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Barclays raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AT&T currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.83.

AT&T Trading Up 6.2 %

Shares of NYSE:T opened at $24.12 on Tuesday. AT&T Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.94 and a 1 year high of $24.37. 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 fifty day moving average price of $22.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.05 billion, a PE ratio of 19.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. Analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is presently 90.24%.

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.