Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC Makes New $111,000 Investment in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,884 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in T. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $23,888,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter worth approximately $14,700,000. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 21,282,584 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $468,217,000 after buying an additional 104,700 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 41.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,947,913 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $168,969,000 after buying an additional 2,326,904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 195,991 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,312,000 after buying an additional 30,281 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Trading Up 1.2 %

T opened at $22.30 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $159.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.94 and a 12 month high of $24.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.79 and a 200 day moving average of $21.35.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, 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 Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on T. Evercore ISI increased their target price on AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Argus raised AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. New Street Research raised AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.83.

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.