Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $9.35 Million Holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 557,388 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 5,932 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in AT&T were worth $9,353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Newport Trust Company LLC grew its holdings in AT&T by 0.3% during the third quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 199,998,040 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,003,971,000 after purchasing an additional 673,043 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in AT&T by 2.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 75,158,354 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,128,878,000 after purchasing an additional 1,828,237 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in AT&T by 130.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,515,546 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $863,884,000 after purchasing an additional 32,558,342 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in AT&T by 185.6% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 52,613,513 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $790,301,000 after purchasing an additional 34,189,954 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in AT&T by 0.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,791,397 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $747,867,000 after purchasing an additional 327,425 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Trading Up 0.8 %

T traded up $0.14 during trading on Monday, reaching $16.99. 24,179,539 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,930,922. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $16.98 and its 200 day moving average is $16.68. AT&T Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.43 and a 12 month high of $18.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.82 billion, a PE ratio of 9.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57.

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

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.53%. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 59.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on T shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded AT&T from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. TheStreet upgraded shares of AT&T from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.81.

About AT&T

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.