AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Shares Bought by CENTRAL TRUST Co

CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 5.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 191,351 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 9,343 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co's holdings in AT&T were worth $5,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of T. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 48,579 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 10,188 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in AT&T by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 404,343 shares of the technology company's stock worth $9,207,000 after purchasing an additional 7,385 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in AT&T by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 133,688 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,044,000 after purchasing an additional 15,309 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at about $757,000. Finally, Monument Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at about $518,000. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of T opened at $27.95 on Tuesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $27.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.69. The firm has a market cap of $201.08 billion, a PE ratio of 18.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.41. AT&T Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.49 and a 12-month 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.01). AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The business had revenue of $30.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $31.00 price objective (up from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on AT&T from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $28.71.

AT&T Company 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.

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