Argyle Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Argyle Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 150,513 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,533 shares during the quarter. AT&T makes up about 1.4% of Argyle Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Argyle Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $3,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in T. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 7.1% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in AT&T by 2.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 161,120,657 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,532,684,000 after buying an additional 3,630,972 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in AT&T by 41.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,947,913 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $168,969,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326,904 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 15.8% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 15,769,707 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $346,934,000 after acquiring an additional 2,152,016 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 112.9% during the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 2,916,698 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $64,167,000 after acquiring an additional 1,546,679 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays increased their price objective on AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.33.

AT&T Stock Performance

NYSE:T opened at $26.90 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 $193.09 billion, a PE ratio of 18.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.94 and a fifty-two week high of $27.16. The company has a fifty day moving average of $23.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.49.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. As a group, research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.50%.

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.