Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Boosts Stock Holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 167.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,205,000 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 755,000 shares during the quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in AT&T were worth $27,438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in T. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in AT&T in the 4th quarter worth approximately $14,700,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 2,326,904 shares during the last quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 320,089 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,288,000 after buying an additional 21,927 shares during the period. Fortress Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $691,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 237,477 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,407,000 after buying an additional 63,359 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on AT&T from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Scotiabank increased their price target on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.50 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AT&T has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.21.

AT&T Price Performance

T stock opened at $26.65 on Friday. AT&T Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.94 and a 1 year high of $29.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $191.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The business’s 50-day moving average is $26.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.73.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. Analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.50%.

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.