AT&T Inc. $T Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors reduced its AT&T stake by 6% in the second quarter, selling 166,385 shares and retaining 2.59 million shares valued at approximately $53.7 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.1% of AT&T.
• Analysts remain generally positive, with AT&T carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $29.19. Recent targets range from $25 to $30, including an upgrade to “Outperform” from Wolfe Research.
• AT&T reported quarterly EPS of $0.65, exceeding estimates of $0.59, while revenue rose 2.3% year over year to $31.56 billion. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.2775 per share, representing a 4.3% annualized yield.

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 6.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,593,706 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 166,385 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in AT&T were worth $53,690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T during the second quarter worth about $63,985,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 1,920.3% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 221,126,798 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,577,325,000 after acquiring an additional 210,181,579 shares in the last quarter. Kintra Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in AT&T by 22.6% in the second quarter. Kintra Wealth LLC now owns 35,892 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $743,000 after purchasing an additional 6,617 shares during the last quarter. Widmann Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in AT&T by 1.0% in the second quarter. Widmann Financial Services Inc. now owns 70,035 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,450,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in AT&T by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,132,000 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $23,432,000 after purchasing an additional 11,780 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on T. Weiss Ratings upgraded AT&T from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wolfe Research upgraded AT&T from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $29.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of AT&T from $31.00 to $29.25 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $30.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a report on Monday, July 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $29.19.

AT&T Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:T opened at $25.70 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $176.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.25. AT&T Inc. has a one year low of $19.89 and a one year high of $29.79. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.11.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 12.86% and a net margin of 16.94%.The firm had revenue of $31.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. AT&T's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. AT&T has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.350 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.75%.

AT&T Company Profile

AT&T Inc is a global telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and digital entertainment services. Its core activities include consumer and business wireless services, broadband and fiber internet, and network infrastructure. The company operates branded wireless services through AT&T Mobility and deploys fixed-line and fiber networks to deliver high-speed internet and related home services.

AT&T's product and service portfolio spans mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and device sales, home internet (including fiber-to-the-home where available), and managed connectivity solutions for enterprise customers.

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