Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Sells 17,114 Shares of AT&T Inc. $T

Key Points

• Applied Finance Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in AT&T Inc. by 19.0%, selling 17,114 shares during the second quarter, leaving it with 72,911 shares valued at approximately $2.11 million.
• Institutional investors collectively own 57.10% of AT&T's stock, with several firms, including Vanguard Group and GQG Partners, increasing their stakes recently.
• AT&T announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2775 per share, representing an annualized yield of 4.2%, with the payment scheduled for November 3rd.

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,911 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 17,114 shares during the quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC's holdings in AT&T were worth $2,110,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in AT&T by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 651,044,650 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $18,411,543,000 after acquiring an additional 8,185,006 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 2nd quarter valued at $5,266,758,000. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 113,957,259 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,222,711,000 after purchasing an additional 17,177,874 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 55,216,190 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,561,514,000 after purchasing an additional 1,783,363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 53,339,376 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,508,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307,009 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on T. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. HSBC lowered AT&T from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of AT&T from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of AT&T in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $30.65.

AT&T Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:T opened at $26.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $28.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.82. AT&T Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.05 and a fifty-two week high of $29.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $187.05 billion, a PE ratio of 14.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.42.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. AT&T had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 13.36%. The firm had revenue of $30.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.07%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding T? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report).

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.