Van ECK Associates Corp Purchases 26,706 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 396,958 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,706 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in AT&T were worth $8,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of AT&T by 356.5% in the second quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 1,429 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,116 shares in the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC increased its holdings in AT&T by 107.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 807 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

T has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial upped their target price on AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Hsbc Global Res raised AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.40.

AT&T Price Performance

AT&T stock opened at $22.32 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $21.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.15, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.59. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.46 and a 52-week high of $22.73.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The firm 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 business’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.97%. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

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.