AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Position Cut by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System lessened its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,266,788 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 532,451 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.16% of AT&T worth $256,545,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth $1,858,418,000. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in AT&T by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,203,667,000 after purchasing an additional 26,280,866 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 78,148,354 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,779,438,000 after purchasing an additional 10,945,679 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 4,986.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,913,960 shares of the technology company's stock worth $225,741,000 after buying an additional 9,719,036 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 47,651,898 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,085,034,000 after buying an additional 7,347,354 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE T traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $27.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 38,856,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,409,881. The firm has a market cap of $198.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. AT&T Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.73 and a 1-year high of $29.03. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $27.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $30.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.39 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on T shares. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of AT&T from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on AT&T from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $28.71.

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.