Wellington Management Group LLP Acquires 8,841,126 Shares of AT&T Inc. $T

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP significantly increased its stake in AT&T by 350.4% during the first quarter, now owning over 11 million shares valued at approximately $321 million.
• Multiple analysts have boosted their price targets for AT&T, with an average target of $30.21 and a consensus rating of Moderate Buy.
• AT&T recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.2775 per share, representing a 3.8% yield and a payout ratio of 63.07%.

Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 350.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,363,940 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,841,126 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 0.16% of AT&T worth $321,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC now owns 128,254 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,627,000 after buying an additional 6,571 shares in the last quarter. Edgar Lomax Co. VA raised its holdings in AT&T by 34.9% during the 1st quarter. Edgar Lomax Co. VA now owns 2,260,933 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $63,939,000 after acquiring an additional 585,135 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP raised its holdings in AT&T by 11.2% during the 1st quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 5,969,887 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $168,828,000 after acquiring an additional 600,553 shares during the period. RW Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in AT&T during the 1st quarter valued at $226,000. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in AT&T by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 136,883 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,871,000 after acquiring an additional 13,613 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on T shares. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $31.00 price target (up from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of AT&T in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $29.50 to $30.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.21.

AT&T Price Performance

NYSE:T traded down $0.7110 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $28.7290. The company had a trading volume of 33,993,083 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,014,602. AT&T Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.51 and a 52-week high of $29.65. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $27.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.36. The company has a market capitalization of $205.42 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (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 company 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 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. AT&T's payout ratio is 63.07%.

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.