AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Stock Holdings Lessened by Busey Bank

Busey Bank lessened its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 82,700 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 5,797 shares during the quarter. Busey Bank’s holdings in AT&T were worth $1,883,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in AT&T by 2.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 161,120,657 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,532,684,000 after acquiring an additional 3,630,972 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of AT&T by 1.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 60,986,064 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,341,693,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149,688 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of AT&T by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 21,282,584 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $468,217,000 after purchasing an additional 104,700 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AT&T by 7.5% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 17,218,490 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $378,807,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206,330 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service raised its position in shares of AT&T by 15.8% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 15,769,707 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $346,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152,016 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on T shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AT&T presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.11.

AT&T Stock Performance

AT&T stock opened at $24.23 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. AT&T Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.94 and a 12-month high of $24.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. On average, research analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.58%. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

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.