Flputnam Investment Management Co. Acquires 77,334 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. boosted its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 60.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 206,236 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 77,334 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $3,461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Carmel Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of AT&T by 16,250.0% during the third quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,625 shares during the period. Lipe & Dalton acquired a new stake in AT&T in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in AT&T in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. FWL Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Financial Freedom LLC acquired a new stake in AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on T shares. Citigroup raised their price target on AT&T from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. TheStreet upgraded AT&T from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.68.

AT&T Stock Down 0.9 %

T traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $16.09. 10,592,619 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 38,110,211. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $17.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.48. The company has a market cap of $115.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.57. AT&T Inc. has a one year low of $13.43 and a one year high of $19.92.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.44 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 15.39%. The business’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.90%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.63%.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc provides telecommunications and technology services worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Communications and Latin America. The Communications segment offers wireless voice and data communications services; and sells handsets, wireless data cards, wireless computing devices, carrying cases/protective covers, and wireless chargers through its own company-owned stores, agents, and third-party retail stores.