Bank of Montreal Can Reduces Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Bank of Montreal Can trimmed its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,091,620 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 2,151,259 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.18% of AT&T worth $298,096,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of T. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in AT&T in the fourth quarter worth about $14,700,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 41.4% during the third 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 period. Consolidated Planning Corp increased its holdings in AT&T by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 320,089 shares of the technology company's stock worth $7,288,000 after buying an additional 21,927 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors grew its stake in AT&T by 36.4% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 237,477 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,407,000 after buying an additional 63,359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortress Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth $691,000. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on T shares. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on AT&T from $28.50 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Argus upgraded AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Tigress Financial boosted 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, DZ Bank raised AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.24.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of T traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $26.53. 29,246,528 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 36,874,690. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. AT&T Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.94 and a 1 year high of $29.03. The company has a market cap of $190.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $26.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.90.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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, equities research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.50%.

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.