Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Increases Stock Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 383,516 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,395 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $8,733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in AT&T by 2.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 161,120,657 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,532,684,000 after buying an additional 3,630,972 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of AT&T by 41.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,947,913 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $168,969,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326,904 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its stake in AT&T by 15.8% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 15,769,707 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $346,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152,016 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in AT&T by 112.9% in the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 2,916,698 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $64,167,000 after purchasing an additional 1,546,679 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in AT&T by 7.5% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 17,218,490 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $378,807,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206,330 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on T shares. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of AT&T in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.21.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:T opened at $24.56 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $176.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.48, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. AT&T Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.94 and a 12 month high of $24.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $23.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.84.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. Equities research analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is 74.50%.

About AT&T

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.