AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Shares Bought by Viking Fund Management LLC

Viking Fund Management LLC lifted its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 15.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 387,000 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 53,000 shares during the period. AT&T accounts for 1.6% of Viking Fund Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Viking Fund Management LLC's holdings in AT&T were worth $10,944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AT&T during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

T has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI upped 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. BNP Paribas upgraded AT&T from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $28.50 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Williams Trading set a $30.00 target price on AT&T in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on AT&T from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $28.71.

AT&T Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE T traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $27.76. The company had a trading volume of 29,151,834 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,054,598. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.38. AT&T Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.42 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. The stock has a market cap of $199.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.63, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.41.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $30.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.39 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.10%.

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.