Franklin Resources Inc. Boosts Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,673,693 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 725,780 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $197,500,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of T. Tradition Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the third quarter worth approximately $270,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T in the third quarter worth approximately $382,000. Paloma Partners Management Co grew its position in AT&T by 141.8% in the 3rd quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 31,038 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 105,338 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in AT&T by 1,855.5% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 92,810 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,042,000 after buying an additional 88,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concentric Capital Strategies LP purchased a new position in shares of AT&T in the 3rd quarter worth $1,978,000. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Argus raised 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. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $19.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.21.

AT&T Price Performance

T stock opened at $28.49 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $25.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.64. AT&T Inc. has a one year low of $15.94 and a one year high of $28.61. The company has a market capitalization of $204.47 billion, a PE ratio of 19.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.50%.

AT&T 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.