West Family Investments Inc. Acquires 2,356 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

West Family Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 11.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,281 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,356 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 81,076,641 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,549,375,000 after purchasing an additional 5,592,123 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 2.7% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 60,109,127 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,148,689,000 after acquiring an additional 1,569,374 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in AT&T by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,558,884 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $985,307,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007,228 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 1.1% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 30,092,610 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $575,070,000 after acquiring an additional 315,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in AT&T by 2.5% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 28,113,880 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $537,256,000 after acquiring an additional 675,082 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of AT&T stock opened at $22.99 on Tuesday. AT&T Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.85 and a 52 week high of $23.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $21.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.79. The company has a market capitalization of $164.96 billion, a PE ratio of 18.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The company had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.83%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on T. Daiwa America raised shares of AT&T to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Scotiabank downgraded AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.40.

AT&T Company Profile

AT&T Inc provides telecommunications and technology services worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Communications and Latin America. The Communications segment offers wireless voice and data communications services; and sells handsets, wireless data cards, wireless computing devices, carrying cases/protective covers, and wireless chargers through its own company-owned stores, agents, and third-party retail stores.