Principal Securities Inc. Has $3.04 Million Stock Holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 133,688 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,309 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.'s holdings in AT&T were worth $3,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE boosted its stake in AT&T by 169.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 1,338 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in AT&T in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE T traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $26.64. 58,384,223 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 38,439,449. The firm has a market capitalization of $191.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.88, a P/E/G 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 stock's fifty day simple moving average is $23.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.28.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on AT&T in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $26.33.

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.