Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 245,356 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,531,855 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 245,356 shares during the period. AT&T accounts for 0.5% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in AT&T were worth $34,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in AT&T during the fourth quarter worth about $14,700,000. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in AT&T by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 21,282,584 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $468,217,000 after purchasing an additional 104,700 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in AT&T by 41.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,947,913 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $168,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,326,904 shares during the last quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp raised its holdings in AT&T by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 320,089 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,288,000 after purchasing an additional 21,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC grew its position in shares of AT&T by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 195,991 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,312,000 after buying an additional 30,281 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of T stock opened at $26.74 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. AT&T Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.94 and a fifty-two week high of $27.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $23.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.38. The company has a market capitalization of $191.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.94, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. Analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.15%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on T shares. Argus raised shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.33.

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.