Griffith & Werner Inc. Makes New Investment in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Griffith & Werner Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 238,316 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $5,426,000. AT&T makes up approximately 3.6% of Griffith & Werner Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in AT&T by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 642,859,644 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $14,637,914,000 after buying an additional 6,220,442 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AT&T by 1.6% in 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 buying an additional 2,640,644 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,203,667,000 after buying an additional 26,280,866 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 7.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,858,418,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

T has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $31.00 target price (up previously from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Williams Trading set a $30.00 price objective on AT&T in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised AT&T from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $28.50 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $28.71.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of T traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $27.60. 14,255,704 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,710,065. AT&T Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.11 and a 12-month high of $29.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $198.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $27.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.18.

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

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date 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.