AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Shares Sold by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV lessened its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 46.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 839,586 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 722,422 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV's holdings in AT&T were worth $19,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of T. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in AT&T by 2.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 161,120,657 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,532,684,000 after purchasing an additional 3,630,972 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in AT&T by 41.4% in 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 during the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its holdings in AT&T by 15.8% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 15,769,707 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $346,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152,016 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its holdings in AT&T by 112.9% in the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 2,916,698 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $64,167,000 after purchasing an additional 1,546,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in AT&T by 7.5% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 17,218,490 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $378,807,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206,330 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company's stock.

AT&T Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:T traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $26.64. 58,384,223 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,439,449. The firm has a market cap of $191.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.88, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.59. 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 52-week low of $15.94 and a 52-week high of $26.72. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $23.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.23.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.17%. AT&T's payout ratio is currently 74.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. New Street Research raised AT&T from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley raised AT&T from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on AT&T from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.33.

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.