AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Stock Position Lifted by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in AT&T Inc. by 9.7% in the first quarter, now holding 719,019 shares valued at approximately $20.33 million.
• AT&T reported $0.54 earnings per share for the latest quarter, exceeding estimates, with revenues of $30.85 billion, a 3.4% increase from the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2775 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.98%, with the payment date set for August 1st.

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 9.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 719,019 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 63,640 shares during the period. AT&T comprises 1.4% of Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in AT&T were worth $20,334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC grew its stake in AT&T by 182.1% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Core Alternative Capital grew its stake in AT&T by 125.4% during the first 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 in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AT&T Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE T traded up $0.10 during trading on Friday, reaching $28.02. 33,981,327 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 32,249,414. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $201.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.42. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $27.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.62. AT&T Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.64 and a 12-month high of $29.19.

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

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. AT&T's payout ratio is currently 63.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Williams Trading set a $30.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $29.50 to $30.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $29.37.

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.