Centre Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Centre Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 93,950 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,550 shares during the quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $2,139,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 227.6% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 131,813 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 91,578 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE increased its holdings in AT&T by 169.2% during the third quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 1,338 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 841 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in AT&T in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T during the third quarter worth about $35,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of T remained flat at $22.83 during mid-day trading on Friday. The stock had a trading volume of 8,615,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,611,762. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.81 billion, a PE ratio of 18.56, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.94 and a fifty-two week high of $24.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $22.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.02.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. AT&T’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is 90.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on T. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $19.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. New Street Research raised AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.53.

AT&T Profile

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.