Foster Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Foster Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 18.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,912 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,215 shares during the quarter. Foster Group Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $368,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Farmers Trust Co. boosted its holdings in AT&T by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 354,737 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,243,000 after acquiring an additional 10,546 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in AT&T by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 29,340 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 2,036 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC raised its position in AT&T by 107.8% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 8,111 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 4,208 shares during the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its position in AT&T by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,494,679 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,306,000 after purchasing an additional 81,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Brown Inc. raised its position in AT&T by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 89,315 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,572,000 after purchasing an additional 5,741 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research raised AT&T from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Scotiabank increased their target price on AT&T from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.54.

AT&T Price Performance

AT&T stock opened at $18.12 on Friday. AT&T Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.43 and a 52-week high of $18.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. AT&T had a net margin of 11.13% and a return on equity of 14.63%. The company had revenue of $30.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. AT&T’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.13%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.68%.

AT&T 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.