Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases 999,800 Shares of AT&T Inc. $T

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 5,296.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,018,676 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 999,800 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $28,767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Csenge Advisory Group grew its holdings in AT&T by 20.3% during the third quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 189,293 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,346,000 after purchasing an additional 31,935 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in AT&T by 0.4% in the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 12,810,872 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $361,779,000 after buying an additional 49,727 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its stake in AT&T by 4.9% in the third quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 1,411,031 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,848,000 after buying an additional 66,448 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,221,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 1.4% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 18,133,054 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $512,077,000 after buying an additional 248,567 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Key AT&T News

Here are the key news stories impacting AT&T this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AT&T is expanding its AT&T Guarantee to nearly 50 million more households and adding free Internet Backup for customers who bundle AT&T Fiber and Wireless — a move meant to boost perceived reliability and reduce churn for higher‑value bundled customers. This directly targets the reliability concern that matters to both consumer retention and enterprise customers. AT&T Expands America’s Best Guarantee to Millions of Households Nationwide
• Positive Sentiment: AT&T and Ericsson demonstrated a working prototype of an AI-driven 5G/Cloud RAN feature that improves radio efficiency — a technical advancement that could lower network costs and support better margins as AT&T shifts to a cloud-native, AI-enabled network. Investors view such infrastructure progress as supportive of long‑term service quality and capital efficiency. AT&T Inc (T) Demonstrates Working Prototype of 5G/Cloud RAN Feature
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage comparing AT&T and Verizon highlights a recent Verizon outage and frames reliability as central for dividend investors. That incident reinforces AT&T’s push on guarantees and could tilt income‑oriented investors toward AT&T if they see it as the steadier yield play. AT&T vs. Verizon in 2026: Which Telecom Dividend Stock Is Actually Worth Owning?
• Positive Sentiment: Macro/sector commentary notes telecoms (including AT&T) outperforming many big tech names year‑to‑date as investors rotate to value and defensive income plays; that rotation supports higher relative multiple and demand for AT&T shares. Why Telecoms Like AT&T And Verizon Are Trouncing Tech Giants
• Neutral Sentiment: AT&T is frequently listed in dividend‑focused roundups as a long‑term “set it and forget it” income stock — a narrative that helps attract buy‑and‑hold investors, but adds little immediate catalyst beyond continued yield appeal. Set It and Forget It: The Dividend Stocks Worth Holding for the Rest of Your Life
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that AT&T may roll out new phone plans imminently are speculative; new pricing or packaging could be a modest near‑term customer or ARPU catalyst but details and timing are uncertain. Report Suggests AT&T New Phone Plans for 2026 Could Arrive March 12
• Negative Sentiment: Social media criticism resurfaced around AT&T’s large historical losses (a $47B write-down from six years ago), which can stir negative sentiment but is unlikely to change fundamentals — still, reputational reminders can pressure short‑term trading if amplified. Reddit Is Still Furious About AT&T’s $47 Billion Loss From Six Years Ago

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Williams Trading set a $32.00 target price on AT&T in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wolfe Research downgraded AT&T from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of AT&T from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.93.

AT&T Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:T opened at $28.65 on Monday. AT&T Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.95 and a 12-month high of $29.79. The business has a 50 day moving average of $26.04 and a 200-day moving average of $26.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $200.57 billion, a PE ratio of 9.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.39.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.91 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 12.33% and a net margin of 17.47%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. AT&T has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.350 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 12th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 12th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.39%.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc is a global telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and digital entertainment services. Its core activities include consumer and business wireless services, broadband and fiber internet, and network infrastructure. The company operates branded wireless services through AT&T Mobility and deploys fixed-line and fiber networks to deliver high-speed internet and related home services.

AT&T’s product and service portfolio spans mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and device sales, home internet (including fiber-to-the-home where available), and managed connectivity solutions for enterprise customers.