Empower Advisory Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,596,512 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 53,587 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $104,663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 305.1% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,541,724 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,918,000 after purchasing an additional 1,161,152 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,564,777 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,413,000 after purchasing an additional 43,218 shares during the last quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,127 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 1,678 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 113.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 83,736 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 44,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 110,601 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,433,000 after purchasing an additional 949 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

T has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $19.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.33.

AT&T Price Performance

T opened at $25.88 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $23.23 and a 200-day moving average of $22.08. The company has a market capitalization of $185.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.37, a PEG 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 $25.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. Equities analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 74.50%.

About AT&T

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.