Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 983,359 Shares of AT&T Inc. $T

Key Points

• Ameriprise Financial Inc. reduced its holdings in AT&T Inc. by 1.9%, selling 983,359 shares in the first quarter, leaving them with approximately 50.8 million shares valued at about $1.44 billion.
• AT&T has reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.54 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates and showing a 3.4% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.2775, representing an annualized dividend yield of 3.8%, with a dividend payout ratio currently at 63.07%.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lessened its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,842,796 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 983,359 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.71% of AT&T worth $1,437,973,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in T. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in AT&T by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 48,579 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 10,188 shares in the last quarter. Yoffe Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter worth approximately $213,000. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter worth approximately $638,000. MGO One Seven LLC lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 134,950 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,073,000 after buying an additional 17,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 79.2% during the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 6,886 shares of the technology company's stock worth $156,000 after buying an additional 3,044 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company's stock.

AT&T Stock Up 1.0%

AT&T stock opened at $29.2660 on Thursday. AT&T Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.40 and a 1-year high of $29.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.29.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. AT&T had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 13.36%. The business had revenue of $30.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. AT&T's revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of AT&T from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $31.00 target price (up previously from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $30.21.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.