Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 619,483 Shares of AT&T Inc. $T

Key Points

• Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its stake in AT&T Inc. by 15.3% in Q1, selling 619,483 shares, leaving them with 3,420,893 shares valued at approximately $96.7 million.
• Several other large investors have modified their positions in AT&T, including new stakes and significant increases in holdings, showcasing shifting interest among institutional investors in the company.
• AT&T's stock currently has an average price target of $30.21, with ratings ranging from Strong Buy to Sell, indicating mixed sentiment from analysts regarding its outlook.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 15.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,420,893 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 619,483 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings in AT&T were worth $96,743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in T. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 48,579 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,106,000 after buying an additional 10,188 shares during the last quarter. Yoffe Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter worth about $213,000. Two Sigma Securities LLC raised its stake in AT&T by 306.0% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC now owns 13,281 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 19,729 shares during the period. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC raised its stake in AT&T by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 835,069 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $19,015,000 after acquiring an additional 6,488 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AT&T Price Performance

AT&T stock traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $29.06. 28,008,730 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,288,118. The company's fifty day moving average is $28.05 and its 200-day moving average is $27.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $207.75 billion, a PE ratio of 16.51, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.42. AT&T Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.62 and a 52 week high of $29.65.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $30.85 billion for 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%. AT&T's revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is 63.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

T has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on AT&T from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $31.00 price objective (up from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on AT&T from $29.50 to $30.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on AT&T from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on AT&T from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.21.

AT&T 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.