AT&T Inc. $T Shares Sold by Conning Inc.

Key Points

• Conning Inc. reduced its stake in AT&T by 23.5% during the second quarter, owning 44,132 shares worth approximately $1.28 million after selling 13,556 shares.
• Several institutional investors, including Kingstone Capital Partners and Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board, significantly increased their positions in AT&T, reflecting a strong interest in the stock.
• AT&T announced a dividend of $0.2775 per share to be paid on November 3rd, representing a 4.3% yield and a payout ratio of 63.07%.

Conning Inc. decreased its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 23.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,132 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 13,556 shares during the period. Conning Inc.'s holdings in AT&T were worth $1,277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of T. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in AT&T in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,266,758,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in AT&T in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,072,128,000. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in AT&T by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 113,957,259 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,222,711,000 after purchasing an additional 17,177,874 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its stake in AT&T by 30,527.5% in the 1st quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 11,959,440 shares of the technology company's stock worth $338,213,000 after purchasing an additional 11,920,392 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in AT&T by 350.4% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,363,940 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $321,372,000 after purchasing an additional 8,841,126 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on T shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of AT&T in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of AT&T from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of AT&T in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.75.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of AT&T stock opened at $25.85 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. AT&T Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.05 and a 1-year high of $29.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.69, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.42.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $30.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.44 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 13.36%. AT&T's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. On average, sell-side 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 will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.07%.

About AT&T

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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