Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Buys 8,371 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 883,730 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 8,371 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $20,123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in AT&T during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE raised its stake in AT&T by 169.2% during the third quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 1,338 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in AT&T in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AT&T during the third quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in AT&T during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on T shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded AT&T from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $26.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley upgraded AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on AT&T in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.83.

AT&T Stock Up 1.2 %

T stock opened at $22.30 on Tuesday. AT&T Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.94 and a 1-year high of $24.03. The stock has a market cap of $159.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company’s 50 day moving average is $22.79 and its 200 day moving average is $21.35.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

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.