Royal Bank of Canada Lowers Holdings in AT&T Inc. $T

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada reduced its stake in AT&T Inc. by 8.8%, now holding approximately $1.15 billion worth of shares after selling nearly 4 million shares in the 1st quarter.
• Several institutional investors increased their holdings in AT&T, with GQG Partners growing their stake by 17.7% and Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raising their position by an astonishing 30,527.5%.
• AT&T recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2775 per share, reflecting a 3.8% yield and a payout ratio of 63.07% as of the latest financial disclosures.

Royal Bank of Canada cut its position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 8.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,746,545 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 3,955,054 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.57% of AT&T worth $1,152,311,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC raised its position in shares of AT&T by 182.1% in the 1st quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC now owns 993 shares of the technology company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AT&T Stock Performance

AT&T stock traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $29.29. 26,535,515 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 29,098,794. 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 firm's 50 day moving average price is $28.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.44. AT&T Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.62 and a 1 year high of $29.65.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $30.85 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. AT&T's payout ratio is presently 63.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

T has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on AT&T from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Hsbc Global Res lowered AT&T from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $31.00 price target (up from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $31.00 price target (up from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on AT&T from $29.50 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.21.

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.