AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Shares Acquired by Rakuten Securities Inc.

Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 43.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,597 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 4,756 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in AT&T by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 922,851 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $21,013,000 after purchasing an additional 20,517 shares during the period. Essential Planning LLC. lifted its holdings in AT&T by 6,368.9% in the fourth quarter. Essential Planning LLC. now owns 756,996 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $17,030,000 after purchasing an additional 745,294 shares during the period. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at about $109,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 37,590 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $856,000 after purchasing an additional 8,788 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 53.9% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 381,619 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,689,000 after purchasing an additional 133,627 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of T opened at $26.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.74 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. AT&T Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.94 and a 1-year high of $27.97. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $24.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.94.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. On average, equities research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders 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 yield of 4.27%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer started coverage on AT&T in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. DZ Bank raised AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on AT&T from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.74.

AT&T 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.