AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Shares Purchased by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 396,958 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,706 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in AT&T were worth $8,928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hayek Kallen Investment Management grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 0.8% during the third quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management now owns 60,271 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its position in shares of AT&T by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 73,562 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,618,000 after buying an additional 513 shares during the period. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 25,313 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $484,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC raised its position in shares of AT&T by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 23,650 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $452,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the period. Finally, WealthCare Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in AT&T by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC now owns 24,138 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $461,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on T shares. Daiwa America raised shares of AT&T to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.40.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE T opened at $22.32 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.15 billion, a PE ratio of 18.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.46 and a 52 week high of $22.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $21.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The firm’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. Analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.97%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

AT&T Company 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.