Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 674,638 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 48,480 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $11,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Carmel Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in AT&T by 16,250.0% in the 3rd quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,625 shares in the last quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Financial Freedom LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Lipe & Dalton purchased a new stake in AT&T in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Ramirez Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on T. Oppenheimer raised shares of AT&T from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 19th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. TheStreet raised shares of AT&T from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.68.

AT&T Stock Performance

AT&T stock opened at $16.15 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. AT&T Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.43 and a 1-year high of $19.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50-day moving average is $17.02 and its 200 day moving average is $16.48.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.01). AT&T had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 11.76%. The firm had revenue of $32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.63%.

AT&T Company Profile

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.