Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Lowers Stake in AT&T Inc. $T

Key Points

• Clark Capital Management Group Inc. reduced its stake in AT&T by 0.4%, holding 2,228,874 shares valued at approximately $63 million after selling 10,002 shares in the first quarter.
• Other institutional investors also increased their stake in AT&T, with Nuveen LLC purchasing a new stake valued at over $1 billion and GQG Partners LLC growing its holdings by 17.7%.
• AT&T reported earnings of $0.54 per share for the most recent quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and showing a 3.4% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. trimmed its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 0.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,228,874 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 10,002 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.'s holdings in AT&T were worth $63,033,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of T. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,072,128,000. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in AT&T by 17.7% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 113,957,259 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,222,711,000 after purchasing an additional 17,177,874 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in AT&T by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 53,432,827 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,216,665,000 after purchasing an additional 12,881,578 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its holdings in AT&T by 30,527.5% in the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 11,959,440 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $338,213,000 after purchasing an additional 11,920,392 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in AT&T by 350.4% in 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 during the period. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

T has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $31.00 price target (up from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $29.50 to $30.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.40.

AT&T Stock Down 0.2%

T stock opened at $29.03 on Thursday. 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 1-year low of $20.25 and a 1-year high of $29.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $28.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.58. The firm has a market cap of $207.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.49, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.44.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $30.44 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 13.36%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is currently 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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