Vertex Planning Partners LLC Makes New Investment in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Vertex Planning Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 11,023 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of T. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of AT&T by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 81,076,641 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,549,375,000 after buying an additional 5,592,123 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 2.7% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 60,109,127 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,148,689,000 after purchasing an additional 1,569,374 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 2.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,558,884 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $985,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007,228 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 30,092,610 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $575,070,000 after purchasing an additional 315,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 28,113,880 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $537,256,000 after purchasing an additional 675,082 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Daiwa America raised AT&T to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.40.

AT&T Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE T opened at $22.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $164.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $21.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.79. AT&T Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.85 and a 1 year high of $23.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The company had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.50 billion. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc provides telecommunications and technology services worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Communications and Latin America. The Communications segment offers wireless voice and data communications services; and sells handsets, wireless data cards, wireless computing devices, carrying cases/protective covers, and wireless chargers through its own company-owned stores, agents, and third-party retail stores.