Sound Income Strategies LLC Raises Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,277,293 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 98,043 shares during the period. AT&T accounts for 1.8% of Sound Income Strategies LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $29,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,700,000. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings 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 valued at $468,217,000 after buying an additional 104,700 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $168,969,000 after buying an additional 2,326,904 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in AT&T by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 195,991 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,312,000 after acquiring an additional 30,281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Talbot Financial LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T in the third quarter valued at $7,438,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AT&T Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:T opened at $22.51 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.30, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.94 and a 1 year high of $24.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $22.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The firm had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.93%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 90.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised AT&T from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $26.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.83.

AT&T Company 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.