Korea Investment CORP Acquires 600,553 Shares of AT&T Inc. $T

Key Points

• Korea Investment CORP increased its stake in AT&T Inc. by 11.2%, acquiring an additional 600,553 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to approximately 5.97 million shares valued at $168.83 million.
• AT&T's quarterly earnings met expectations, reporting $0.54 EPS and $30.85 billion in revenue, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 3.4%.
• Institutional investors currently own 57.10% of AT&T's shares, with notable stakes being acquired by firms such as Nuveen LLC and GQG Partners LLC in recent quarters.

Korea Investment CORP boosted its holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 11.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,969,887 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 600,553 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned approximately 0.08% of AT&T worth $168,828,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in AT&T in the first quarter worth $1,072,128,000. GQG Partners LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 17,177,874 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 12,881,578 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted 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 buying an additional 11,920,392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 10,945,679 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on T shares. Scotiabank increased their target price on AT&T from $29.50 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on AT&T from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. TD Securities raised their price target on AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $31.00 price target (up previously from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on AT&T from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.21.

AT&T Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of T stock opened at $28.89 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $206.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.42. AT&T Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.08 and a twelve month high of $29.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $27.90 and a 200 day moving average of $27.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $30.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.44 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.36% and a net margin of 10.29%. The business's revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $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 Announces Dividend

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