Johnson Financial Group Inc. Increases Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 21.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 125,780 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 21,793 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in AT&T were worth $3,013,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 48.6% during the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in AT&T in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company's stock.

AT&T Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE:T traded down $0.73 on Friday, hitting $26.80. 37,042,995 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,505,396. The stock has a market capitalization of $192.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. AT&T Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.73 and a 12 month high of $29.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $26.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.35.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $30.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.39 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. Analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. AT&T's payout ratio is presently 68.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Williams Trading set a $30.00 target price on AT&T in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $31.00 target price (up from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $28.62.

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.