Vest Financial LLC Has $1.84 Million Holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 20.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 80,656 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,611 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $1,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in AT&T in the third quarter worth $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 169.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 1,338 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares during the period. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in AT&T in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of AT&T stock opened at $24.56 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $23.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.81. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $176.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.48, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.94 and a 52 week high of $24.98.

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 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.52%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on T shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on AT&T from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays upped their price target on AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.21.

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.