Arizona State Retirement System Increases Stock Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,076,910 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 21,048 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in AT&T were worth $47,291,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in T. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in AT&T during the third quarter worth $62,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 7.2% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 396,958 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $8,928,000 after acquiring an additional 26,706 shares in the last quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the third quarter valued at $236,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 3.2% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 83,902 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,846,000 after acquiring an additional 2,602 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 22.1% in the third quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 35,374 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $778,000 after acquiring an additional 6,402 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of T stock traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $26.19. 42,005,036 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 41,079,500. 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 12-month low of $15.94 and a 12-month high of $27.97. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $24.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $188.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is currently 74.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

T has been the topic of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group increased their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.50 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. New Street Research upgraded AT&T from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.45.

AT&T 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.