Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Grows Stock Holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 240,392 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,631 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $5,474,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 169.2% during the third quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 1,338 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

T has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Argus raised AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. New Street Research raised shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.21.

AT&T Price Performance

T opened at $24.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $175.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.75. AT&T Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.94 and a 12-month high of $24.98.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.54%. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 74.50%.

AT&T Company Profile

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.