Welch Group LLC Acquires 979 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Welch Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,351 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 979 shares during the quarter. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $2,433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in T. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in AT&T in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Price Performance

T opened at $27.38 on Friday. 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 $196.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.23. AT&T Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.16 and a 52-week high of $29.03.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $30.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.39 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. AT&T’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Tigress Financial upped their price target on AT&T from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on AT&T from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. BNP Paribas raised AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $28.50 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $31.00 target price (up from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on AT&T from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.71.

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.