Rafferty Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 622,809 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 69,362 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in AT&T were worth $14,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of T. Consolidated Planning Corp grew its position in shares of AT&T by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 320,089 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $7,288,000 after buying an additional 21,927 shares during the last quarter. Keystone Financial Group grew its position in shares of AT&T by 196.3% in the 4th quarter. Keystone Financial Group now owns 216,980 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,322,000 after buying an additional 143,744 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 237,477 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,407,000 after purchasing an additional 63,359 shares in the last quarter. Fortress Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at about $691,000. Finally, DigitalBridge Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. now owns 2,865,814 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $65,255,000 after purchasing an additional 365,776 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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. TD Securities increased their price target on AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. BNP Paribas upgraded AT&T from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $28.50 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $28.71.

AT&T Price Performance

NYSE:T traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $27.72. 31,085,059 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 36,827,914. The firm has a market cap of $199.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. AT&T Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.11 and a 52 week high of $29.03. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $27.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

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

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis 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.