abrdn plc Grows Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

abrdn plc increased its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 47.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,305,871 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,063,274 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in AT&T were worth $55,473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in T. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of AT&T by 85,003.0% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 76,836,936 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,414,568,000 after purchasing an additional 76,746,649 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,229,499,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in AT&T by 185.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 52,613,513 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $790,301,000 after buying an additional 34,189,954 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in AT&T by 130.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,515,546 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $863,884,000 after buying an additional 32,558,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in AT&T by 37.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 109,639,428 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,018,462,000 after buying an additional 29,769,976 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of T stock opened at $16.51 on Monday. AT&T Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.43 and a 52-week high of $18.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $17.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.52.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.01). AT&T had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 11.76%. The business had revenue of $32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. AT&T’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.72%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $18.00 to $21.00 in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays raised their price target on AT&T from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.50.

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.