Kovack Advisors Inc. Boosts Holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 8.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 169,908 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,584 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $2,990,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 35,098 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,322 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 606 shares during the period. JB Capital LLC grew its position in AT&T by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 26,620 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in AT&T by 1.5% during the first quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 41,595 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $732,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the period. Finally, Connecticut Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in AT&T by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,601 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on T. BNP Paribas raised shares of AT&T from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of AT&T in a research note on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on AT&T from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.73.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of T stock traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $18.68. 19,462,997 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 33,098,884. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $133.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.04, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $17.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.21. AT&T Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $13.43 and a fifty-two week high of $19.32.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $30.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.62 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 11.13%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.94%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is 59.68%.

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.