Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Grows Stock Holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 943,910 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 48,607 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in AT&T were worth $21,493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of T. Chesapeake Wealth Management raised its position in shares of AT&T by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 24,304 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. increased its holdings in AT&T by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. now owns 16,905 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the period. Socha Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in AT&T by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Socha Financial Group LLC now owns 18,847 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the period. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in AT&T by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 34,468 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $759,000 after buying an additional 468 shares during the period. Finally, Essex Savings Bank increased its holdings in AT&T by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 21,636 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on T shares. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AT&T presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.21.

AT&T Stock Down 0.1 %

T stock opened at $24.46 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $22.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.75. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.94 and a fifty-two week high of $24.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.41, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is 74.50%.

AT&T Company Profile

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.