Howard Capital Management Inc. Purchases 13,497 Shares of AT&T Inc. $T

Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 276,004 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,497 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $7,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in T. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 182.1% during the 1st quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC now owns 993 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank boosted its stake in AT&T by 412.1% in the second quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 973 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Solstein Capital LLC boosted its stake in AT&T by 217.3% in the second quarter. Solstein Capital LLC now owns 952 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on AT&T from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AT&T in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $33.00 target price (up previously from $31.00) on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on AT&T from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.67.

AT&T Trading Up 1.4%

T opened at $25.50 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.96. AT&T Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.38 and a fifty-two week high of $29.79. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $27.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.28, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.42.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.54. The firm had revenue of $30.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.85 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 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, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. AT&T’s payout ratio is presently 36.04%.

AT&T 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.