Advisor Resource Council Takes $1.50 Million Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Advisor Resource Council purchased a new stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 56,981 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,503,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in AT&T by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 642,859,644 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $14,637,914,000 after purchasing an additional 6,220,442 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in AT&T by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 163,761,301 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,719,723,000 after purchasing an additional 2,640,644 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in AT&T by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,203,667,000 after purchasing an additional 26,280,866 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in AT&T by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 85,592,594 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,948,943,000 after purchasing an additional 5,649,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,858,418,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of AT&T stock opened at $27.79 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. AT&T Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.07 and a twelve month high of $29.03. The stock has a market cap of $199.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s fifty day moving average is $27.53 and its 200 day moving average is $25.78.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). AT&T had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 9.64%. The business had revenue of $30.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

T has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of AT&T in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.76.

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.