Brookstone Capital Management Trims Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Brookstone Capital Management cut its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 741,661 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 51,479 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management's holdings in AT&T were worth $16,888,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of T. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the second quarter worth $23,888,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at about $14,700,000. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 21,282,584 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $468,217,000 after purchasing an additional 104,700 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $168,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,326,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 18.3% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 195,991 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,312,000 after purchasing an additional 30,281 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on T. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of AT&T to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded AT&T to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group increased their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of AT&T from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $25.76.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of T stock traded down $0.13 on Monday, hitting $21.56. The company had a trading volume of 37,849,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,355,195. The firm has a market cap of $154.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.94 and a twelve month high of $24.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $22.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The business had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.15%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.24%.

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.