AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Shares Acquired by Essex Financial Services Inc.

Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 95,643 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,837 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $2,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in T. Northeast Investment Management boosted its holdings in AT&T by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Northeast Investment Management now owns 51,198 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,166,000 after buying an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 24,304 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $535,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AT&T by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. now owns 16,905 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Socha Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Socha Financial Group LLC now owns 18,847 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $415,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of AT&T by 1.4% during the third quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 34,468 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on T. DZ Bank raised AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. New Street Research raised shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on AT&T in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.21.

AT&T Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:T opened at $24.86 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.38 billion, a PE ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.94 and a 1 year high of $24.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $23.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.86.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. Analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is 74.50%.

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.