Guardian Investment Management Decreases Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Guardian Investment Management trimmed its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 46,226 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,400 shares during the quarter. Guardian Investment Management’s holdings in AT&T were worth $1,053,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of T. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AT&T by 43.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,853,624 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $414,563,000 after acquiring an additional 6,602,586 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in AT&T by 2.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 161,120,657 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,532,684,000 after buying an additional 3,630,972 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in AT&T by 1,901.0% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,166,814 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $60,518,000 after acquiring an additional 3,008,549 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 41.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,947,913 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $168,969,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its holdings in AT&T by 15.8% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 15,769,707 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $346,934,000 after acquiring an additional 2,152,016 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:T opened at $22.30 on Monday. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $22.79 and its 200 day moving average is $21.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.97 billion, a PE ratio of 18.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced 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. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The company had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.98%. AT&T’s payout ratio is presently 90.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on T. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Oppenheimer began coverage on AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded AT&T from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.83.

About AT&T

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.