EP Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 31.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 205,279 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 49,386 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in AT&T were worth $4,674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AT&T by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 642,859,644 shares of the technology company's stock worth $14,637,914,000 after acquiring an additional 6,220,442 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in AT&T by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 163,761,301 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,719,723,000 after purchasing an additional 2,640,644 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in AT&T by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,203,667,000 after purchasing an additional 26,280,866 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of AT&T by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 85,592,594 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,948,943,000 after buying an additional 5,649,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,858,418,000. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:T traded up $0.41 on Friday, hitting $27.88. The company had a trading volume of 29,202,762 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,503,549. The company has a market cap of $200.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50 day moving average of $27.15 and a 200 day moving average of $24.73. AT&T Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.11 and a 52-week high of $29.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $30.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.98%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

T has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. TD Securities raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on AT&T from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of AT&T in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AT&T presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $28.71.

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.