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

Hilltop Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 155,214 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,178 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $3,415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of T. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 1,379.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,159,133 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $270,581,000 after purchasing an additional 13,201,774 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in AT&T by 43.3% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,853,624 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $414,563,000 after buying an additional 6,602,586 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 7.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 81,076,641 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,549,375,000 after acquiring an additional 5,592,123 shares during the period. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of AT&T by 22.0% during the second quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,988,396 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $477,528,000 after acquiring an additional 4,511,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of AT&T in the 2nd quarter valued at $78,570,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Down 2.0 %

T opened at $22.70 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.17. AT&T Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.94 and a 52 week high of $23.38. The firm has a market cap of $162.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.46, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $30.20 billion for 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.89%. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Redburn Atlantic raised AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Moffett Nathanson upped their price objective on AT&T from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays lifted their target price on AT&T from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.53.

AT&T 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.