Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 15,258 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 14.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 123,270 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,258 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in AT&T were worth $2,807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in AT&T in the fourth quarter worth about $1,858,418,000. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 37.3% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,203,667,000 after acquiring an additional 26,280,866 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake 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 during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in AT&T by 4,986.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,913,960 shares of the technology company's stock worth $225,741,000 after purchasing an additional 9,719,036 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in AT&T by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 47,651,898 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,085,034,000 after purchasing an additional 7,347,354 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AT&T Price Performance

AT&T stock traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $27.52. 21,331,959 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 36,354,095. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. AT&T Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.91 and a 12 month high of $29.03. The stock's fifty day moving average is $27.08 and its 200-day moving average is $24.60. The stock has a market cap of $198.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.47, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. The business had revenue of $30.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.03%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. DZ Bank upgraded AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on AT&T from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AT&T presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $28.71.

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.