Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Raises Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its holdings in AT&T by 0.7%, owning a total of 1,519,470 shares valued at $42.97 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Research analysts raised their target prices for AT&T stock, with estimates reaching up to $33.00, reflecting positive market sentiment despite one analyst downgrading the stock to a "hold."
• AT&T reported earnings of $0.54 per share for the latest quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and generating $30.85 billion in revenue.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,519,470 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,100 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in AT&T were worth $42,971,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in AT&T in the first quarter worth about $1,072,128,000. GQG Partners LLC grew its position 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 worth $3,222,711,000 after acquiring an additional 17,177,874 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position 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 worth $1,216,665,000 after acquiring an additional 12,881,578 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its position 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 worth $338,213,000 after acquiring an additional 11,920,392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in AT&T by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 78,148,354 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,779,438,000 after acquiring an additional 10,945,679 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AT&T presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $29.66.

AT&T Stock Performance

NYSE:T traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $28.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 24,523,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,400,236. AT&T Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.97 and a 1 year high of $29.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $205.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.34, a PEG ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.42. The business's fifty day moving average is $27.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.16.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. AT&T had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 13.36%. The company had revenue of $30.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.07%.

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.