Ellsworth Advisors LLC Takes Position in AT&T Inc. $T

Key Points

• Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AT&T Inc., purchasing 232,290 shares valued at approximately $6.57 million, making it the fund's 9th largest holding.
• Wall Street analysts have given AT&T a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy", with a consensus price target of $30.60, while several institutions have recently modified their holdings in the company.
• AT&T announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2775 per share, providing an annualized dividend of $1.11 with a yield of 3.8%.

Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 232,290 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $6,569,000. AT&T comprises approximately 1.7% of Ellsworth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 48,579 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 10,188 shares during the period. Yoffe Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at $213,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP acquired a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at $324,000. Finally, Northeast Financial Consultants Inc lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc now owns 11,104 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on T shares. UBS Group set a $32.00 price target on AT&T in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on AT&T from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on AT&T from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AT&T has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.60.

AT&T Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of T traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $29.59. The stock had a trading volume of 22,789,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,351,510. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.73. AT&T Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.05 and a twelve month high of $29.79. The firm has a market cap of $211.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.36% and a net margin of 10.29%.The firm had revenue of $30.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.07%.

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.