Griffin Asset Management Inc. Grows Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 117,510 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $2,585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Syon Capital LLC boosted its stake in AT&T by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 16,652 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 5,269 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 130,844 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,196,000 after purchasing an additional 29,757 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank increased its position in AT&T by 4.2% in the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 135,828 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,391,000 after purchasing an additional 5,422 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in AT&T by 7.5% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 29,340 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 2,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers Trust Co. lifted its position in AT&T by 3.1% during the first quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 354,737 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,243,000 after purchasing an additional 10,546 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AT&T Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of T opened at $21.53 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.57, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.66. AT&T Inc. has a 1-year low of $14.23 and a 1-year high of $22.34. The company has a 50-day moving average of $20.81 and a 200 day moving average of $18.89.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.57. AT&T had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 14.16%. The firm had revenue of $29.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.16%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on T shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on AT&T from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded AT&T to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.69.

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.