AT&T Inc. $T Stock Sold by Hennessy Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Hennessy Advisors reduced its AT&T stake by 27% in the third quarter, selling 92,164 shares and retaining 249,360 shares valued at approximately $6.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 57.1% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with AT&T holding a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $28.55, despite some recent downgrades and target-price cuts.
• AT&T exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.65 in adjusted earnings per share and $32.32 billion in revenue. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.2775, equivalent to a 5.2% annualized yield.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 27.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 249,360 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 92,164 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.'s holdings in AT&T were worth $6,084,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in AT&T in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AT&T in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Robinswood Financial LLC purchased a new position in AT&T in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Matrix Trust Co raised its holdings in AT&T by 331.8% in the second quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 1,494 shares of the technology company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 1,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on T shares. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of AT&T from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of AT&T from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $29.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Argus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Scotiabank cut their target price on AT&T from $27.50 to $26.50 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised AT&T from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $30.00 in a report on Monday, September 21st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $28.55.

AT&T Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of AT&T stock opened at $21.46 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $144.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.25. The company's 50 day moving average is $24.28 and its 200 day moving average is $24.95. AT&T Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.89 and a twelve month high of $29.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

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

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 12th were paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 9th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.00%.

AT&T Company Profile

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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