Arizona State Retirement System Raises Stock Holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,105,753 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 28,843 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in AT&T were worth $59,551,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in AT&T by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 642,859,644 shares of the technology company's stock worth $14,637,914,000 after purchasing an additional 6,220,442 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 163,761,301 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,719,723,000 after purchasing an additional 2,640,644 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of AT&T by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,203,667,000 after buying an additional 26,280,866 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at $1,858,418,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in 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 buying an additional 10,945,679 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company's stock.

AT&T Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of T stock traded down $0.65 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $26.97. 42,637,282 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,516,853. The business's fifty day moving average is $27.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $194.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.42. AT&T Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.14 and a 12-month high of $29.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $30.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.39 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 9.64% and a return on equity of 13.63%. The business's revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. AT&T's payout ratio is 68.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

T has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $31.00 price target (up from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on AT&T from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on AT&T from $29.50 to $30.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $29.12.

AT&T 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.