Public Sector Pension Investment Board Decreases Holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board has reduced its stake in AT&T Inc. by 37.6%, selling 1,854,916 shares and now holding 3,081,485 shares valued at $87,144,000.
• AT&T reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.54, exceeding analyst expectations and reflecting a 3.4% year-over-year revenue increase to $30.85 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.2775 per share, representing a dividend yield of 4.0% and a payout ratio of 63.07%.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lowered its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 37.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,081,485 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,854,916 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board's holdings in AT&T were worth $87,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 182.1% in the first quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC now owns 993 shares of the technology company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Core Alternative Capital lifted its holdings in AT&T by 125.4% in the first quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 1,021 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on T shares. Bank of America began coverage on shares of AT&T in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Scotiabank lifted their target price 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. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $29.66.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of T stock traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $28.51. 30,754,806 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 33,253,296. AT&T Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.97 and a 12 month high of $29.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $27.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.12. 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 capitalization of $203.86 billion, a PE ratio of 16.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.42.

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 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 company had revenue of $30.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. AT&T's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

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