Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Sells 189,329 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Key Points

• Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI decreased its stake in AT&T by 33.7% in the first quarter, currently holding 372,027 shares valued at approximately $10.52 million.
• Other institutional investors have increased their holdings, with UBS AM raising their position by 31.8% during the fourth quarter, now owning over 53 million shares.
• Analysts have responded positively, with PJPMorgan Chase & Co. raising their price target for AT&T shares from $31 to $33, reflecting an overall positive outlook with a consensus price target of $29.66.

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lessened its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 33.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 372,027 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 189,329 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI's holdings in AT&T were worth $10,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC raised its holdings in AT&T by 182.1% during the 1st quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC now owns 993 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares during the period. Finally, Core Alternative Capital raised its holdings in AT&T by 125.4% during the 1st quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 1,021 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of AT&T in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $29.66.

AT&T Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE T traded up $0.56 during trading on Thursday, hitting $28.05. 35,250,757 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 34,202,664. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.76. AT&T Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.97 and a 12-month high of $29.19. The firm has a market cap of $200.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.94, a PEG ratio of 3.41 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $30.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.44 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 13.36%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.07%.

AT&T Company 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.