Xponance Inc. Raises Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 915,733 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,461 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $15,366,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in AT&T by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 287,304,512 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,530,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,567,008 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC raised its position in AT&T by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 199,998,040 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,003,971,000 after purchasing an additional 673,043 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in AT&T by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 109,639,428 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,018,462,000 after purchasing an additional 29,769,976 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in AT&T by 85,003.0% in the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in AT&T by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 75,158,354 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,128,878,000 after purchasing an additional 1,828,237 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Performance

T stock traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $16.39. 4,729,776 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,022,133. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $17.01 and its 200 day moving average is $16.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $117.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.33, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.57. AT&T Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.43 and a 52-week high of $18.72.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.44 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 11.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.77%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. TheStreet upgraded shares of AT&T from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of AT&T from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.68.

About AT&T

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.