Vest Financial LLC Raises Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,865 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,637 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $743,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. raised its position in AT&T by 356.5% in the 2nd quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 1,429 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116 shares in the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. American Capital Advisory LLC raised its holdings in AT&T by 107.5% during the second quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA increased its position in AT&T by 176.6% during the second quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 1,867 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,192 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on T shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Scotiabank cut AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price target on AT&T from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.31.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of AT&T stock opened at $21.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.70. AT&T Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.12 and a 52 week high of $21.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $19.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.61, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57. The company had revenue of $29.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.05 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 14.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.14%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is 59.68%.

AT&T 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.