Buffington Mohr McNeal Invests $242,000 in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Buffington Mohr McNeal bought a new stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 8,556 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,858,418,000. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in AT&T by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,203,667,000 after acquiring an additional 26,280,866 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 53,432,827 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,216,665,000 after acquiring an additional 12,881,578 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 78,148,354 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,779,438,000 after purchasing an additional 10,945,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of AT&T by 4,986.1% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,913,960 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $225,741,000 after purchasing an additional 9,719,036 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on T shares. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on AT&T from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AT&T presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.90.

AT&T Stock Down 1.9%

AT&T stock opened at $28.32 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.42. AT&T Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.14 and a twelve month high of $29.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average of $27.74 and a 200-day moving average of $26.05.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $30.39 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 9.64% and a return on equity of 13.63%. The company’s revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. AT&T’s 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.