Freestone Capital Holdings LLC Purchases 6,444 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Freestone Capital Holdings LLC lifted its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 154,982 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,444 shares during the quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $4,383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in T. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of AT&T by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 651,044,650 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $18,411,543,000 after acquiring an additional 8,185,006 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 113,957,259 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,222,711,000 after purchasing an additional 17,177,874 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 78,148,354 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,779,438,000 after purchasing an additional 10,945,679 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 57,425,387 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,307,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,841,837 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,216,665,000 after purchasing an additional 12,881,578 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AT&T Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of AT&T stock opened at $28.89 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. AT&T Inc. has a 12-month low of $19.08 and a 12-month high of $29.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $206.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.41, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.21.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. AT&T had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 13.36%. The business had revenue of $30.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. AT&T’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $31.00 price target (up previously from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. HSBC lowered shares of AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $29.50 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.21.

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.