Smith Thornton Advisors LLC Buys 14,604 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 27.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 67,557 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,604 shares during the period. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $1,538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in T. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE grew its stake in AT&T by 169.2% in the third quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 1,338 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in AT&T in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in AT&T in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Up 0.5 %

T stock opened at $21.90 on Thursday. AT&T Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.94 and a twelve month high of $24.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $22.80 and its 200-day moving average is $21.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.14 billion, a PE ratio of 17.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. AT&T’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on T shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on AT&T in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.76.

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.