abrdn plc Grows Stock Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

abrdn plc increased its holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 34.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,459,645 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 894,444 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in AT&T were worth $75,680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in T. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 356.5% during the 2nd quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 1,429 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116 shares during the period. American Capital Advisory LLC lifted its position in AT&T by 107.5% in the second quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in AT&T during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 176.6% in the 2nd quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 1,867 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,192 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Performance

NYSE:T opened at $22.18 on Wednesday. AT&T Inc. has a 12 month low of $14.91 and a 12 month high of $22.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.04 billion, a PE ratio of 18.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $21.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.23.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. On average, sell-side 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 Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is 90.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on T shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Scotiabank cut AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Daiwa America raised AT&T to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.40.

About AT&T

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.