AT&T Inc. $T Holdings Cut by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in AT&T Inc. by 20.5%, selling 127,832 shares to hold a total of 494,977 shares valued at approximately $14 million.
• Despite the sell-off by Rafferty, other institutional investors such as AllSquare Wealth Management and Next Level Private LLC have increased their stakes in AT&T, indicating ongoing investor interest.
• Analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for AT&T, with multiple firms raising their price targets, indicating confidence in the company’s future performance.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 20.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 494,977 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 127,832 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in AT&T were worth $13,998,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of T. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T during the 1st quarter worth about $1,072,128,000. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in AT&T by 17.7% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 113,957,259 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,222,711,000 after acquiring an additional 17,177,874 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in AT&T by 31.8% during the 4th 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 valued at $1,216,665,000 after acquiring an additional 12,881,578 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its stake in AT&T by 30,527.5% during the 1st quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 11,959,440 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $338,213,000 after acquiring an additional 11,920,392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in AT&T by 350.4% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,363,940 shares of the technology company's stock worth $321,372,000 after purchasing an additional 8,841,126 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AT&T Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE:T traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $28.97. The stock had a trading volume of 24,653,387 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,184,624. The company has a market capitalization of $207.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.42. AT&T Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.62 and a 1-year high of $29.65. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $28.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $30.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.44 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.36% and a net margin of 10.29%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders 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 3.8%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on T shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on AT&T from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Bank of America assumed coverage on AT&T in a report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on AT&T from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. HSBC lowered AT&T from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on AT&T from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AT&T presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.