Optiver Holding B.V. Takes Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,517 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $171,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of T. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at $14,700,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in AT&T by 41.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,947,913 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $168,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,326,904 shares in the last quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp increased its stake in AT&T by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 320,089 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,288,000 after purchasing an additional 21,927 shares in the last quarter. Keystone Financial Group increased its stake in AT&T by 196.3% in the fourth quarter. Keystone Financial Group now owns 216,980 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,322,000 after purchasing an additional 143,744 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors increased its stake in AT&T by 36.4% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 237,477 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,407,000 after purchasing an additional 63,359 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on T. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price objective (up from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $28.50 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.62.

AT&T Stock Up 1.6 %

AT&T stock opened at $27.25 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. AT&T Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.73 and a 1-year high of $29.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $30.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.39 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. AT&T’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is 68.10%.

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.