AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Shares Purchased by Confluence Wealth Services Inc.

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 16.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 61,883 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,604 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $1,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in T. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in AT&T during the fourth quarter worth approximately $14,700,000. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 21,282,584 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $468,217,000 after acquiring an additional 104,700 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of AT&T by 41.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,947,913 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $168,969,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326,904 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC raised its position 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Talbot Financial LLC acquired a new stake in AT&T during the 3rd quarter worth $7,438,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on T. UBS Group boosted their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.21.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of T opened at $24.26 on Wednesday. AT&T Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.94 and a 1 year high of $24.98. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.73. The company has a market capitalization of $174.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.58%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.