AT&T Inc. $T Shares Bought by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in AT&T Inc. by 1.3%, owning a total of 17,884,487 shares valued at approximately $517.6 million by the end of the second quarter.
• AT&T recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.2775 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 4.5%, with the payout slated for November 3rd.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for AT&T, with a target price averaging $30.67 following various upgrades and downgrades in recent reports.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,884,487 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 233,855 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.25% of AT&T worth $517,577,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T in the second quarter worth about $5,266,758,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,072,128,000. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 17.7% during the first 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 last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 30,527.5% during the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 11,959,440 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $338,213,000 after purchasing an additional 11,920,392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in AT&T by 350.4% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,363,940 shares of the technology company's stock worth $321,372,000 after buying an additional 8,841,126 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on T shares. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on AT&T from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Williams Trading set a $33.00 target price on AT&T in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on AT&T in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on AT&T from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, HSBC lowered AT&T from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.67.

AT&T Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of T opened at $24.78 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $177.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. AT&T Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.38 and a 12 month high of $29.79. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $28.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.75.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54. AT&T had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The firm had revenue of $30.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict 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 Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. 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.

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