AT&T Inc. $T Stock: Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Boosts Stake

Key Points

• Citizens Financial Group increased its AT&T stake by 29.8% in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 248,923 shares valued at approximately $6.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 57.1% of AT&T.
• Analyst sentiment remains moderately positive, with 12 Buy ratings, six Holds and one Sell; the consensus price target is $28.55, although several firms recently lowered their targets.
• AT&T exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $0.65 in EPS and $32.32 billion in revenue, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.2775, representing a 5.3% annualized yield. Investors remain concerned about subscriber trends, leverage and potential competition from SpaceX’s Starlink.

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 29.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 248,923 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 57,195 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI's holdings in AT&T were worth $6,074,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of T. IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of AT&T by 5.3% in the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 1,488,172 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $43,142,000 after acquiring an additional 74,684 shares during the period. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in AT&T in the 1st quarter worth $2,901,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in AT&T by 19.8% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 754,818 shares of the technology company's stock worth $18,772,000 after buying an additional 124,997 shares in the last quarter. Orographic Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,449,000. Finally, B.A. Schrock Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in AT&T in the third quarter worth $1,583,000. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on T. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $27.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $21.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank cut their price objective on AT&T from $27.50 to $26.50 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on AT&T from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of AT&T from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $28.55.

AT&T Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE T opened at $20.96 on Monday. The business's 50 day moving average is $24.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.20. AT&T Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.89 and a 1-year high of $29.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.33, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $32.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.69 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.41% and a net margin of 10.19%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 12th will be given a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. AT&T's payout ratio is presently 60.00%.

Key AT&T News

Here are the key news stories impacting AT&T this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AT&T reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.65 per share and revenue of $32.32 billion, exceeding consensus estimates of $0.60 and $31.69 billion, respectively. Revenue increased roughly 5% year over year. AT&T Stock Sinks on Subscriber and SpaceX Worries
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to see long-term value in the stock. Argus reaffirmed a Buy rating with a $30 price target, while JPMorgan maintained an Overweight rating at $31; Erste Group also modestly raised its 2026 EPS estimate to $2.35. Argus AT&T rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Citi estimates that SpaceX’s Starlink wireless service may not launch nationally until 2029 or later, but reported talks to secure access to as many as 80,000 U.S. cell sites could accelerate the competitive timeline. Starlink Is Years Away From Competing With AT&T
• Negative Sentiment: SpaceX’s potential entry as a fourth nationwide wireless carrier raised fears of greater pricing pressure, subscriber losses and higher network costs for AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. Tower operators benefited because SpaceX may become a major tenant, while telecom carriers sold off. AT&T Slides on SpaceX Cell-Site Talks
• Negative Sentiment: Investors also remain concerned about AT&T’s subscriber trends, elevated leverage and margin pressure. The company’s plan to reduce planned capital spending by roughly $1 billion in 2027–28 while maintaining its 2030 fiber goal may support cash flow, but introductory pricing could weigh on fiber economics. AT&T Q3 Earnings Call and Fiber Strategy

About AT&T

AT&T Inc NYSE: T is a telecommunications company that provides wireless communications, broadband, and related connectivity services. Its offerings include mobile voice and data plans, internet access, fiber broadband, fixed wireless services, and business communications solutions.

The company serves consumers, businesses, government agencies, and other organizations primarily in the United States. AT&T’s business operations include wireless network services, wireline connectivity, fiber-optic internet, voice services, and networking solutions designed to connect locations, devices, and applications.

AT&T traces its history to the Bell System and has operated under its current corporate name since 2005, following the acquisition of AT&T Corp.

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