AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Shares Purchased by Viking Fund Management LLC

Viking Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 297.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 334,000 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 250,000 shares during the quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $7,605,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 4.7% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 475,114 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $9,080,000 after buying an additional 21,233 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,008,133 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $19,265,000 after purchasing an additional 77,932 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 5.4% during the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 350,900 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,706,000 after purchasing an additional 18,000 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of AT&T by 55.8% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 26,376 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $508,000 after purchasing an additional 9,446 shares during the period. Finally, Certified Advisory Corp increased its stake in AT&T by 1.9% in the second quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 29,367 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:T opened at $22.49 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $161.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a one year low of $15.94 and a one year high of $24.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.40.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The business’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

T has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. New Street Research upgraded AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on AT&T in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AT&T currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.