Scotia Capital Inc. Reduces Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Key Points

• Scotia Capital Inc. reduced its holdings in AT&T by 17.3%, now owning 603,208 shares after selling 125,838 shares in the first quarter, valuing its stake at $17,059,000.
• Several institutional investors increased their positions in AT&T during the fourth quarter, with Northern Trust Corp. leading the way by lifting its stake by 16.3% to over 78 million shares.
• Wall Street analysts have a generally positive outlook for AT&T, with the average price target projected at $29.66 and an overall rating of "Moderate Buy".

Scotia Capital Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 17.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 603,208 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 125,838 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.'s holdings in AT&T were worth $17,059,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of T. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 78,148,354 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,779,438,000 after purchasing an additional 10,945,679 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 57,425,387 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,307,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,841,837 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 31.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 12,881,578 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in AT&T by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,032,367 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,184,717,000 after acquiring an additional 2,992,073 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in AT&T by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 47,651,898 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,085,034,000 after acquiring an additional 7,347,354 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on T shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of AT&T from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Williams Trading set a $30.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $29.66.

AT&T Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of T opened at $27.76 on Monday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $27.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.42. AT&T Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.64 and a 1 year high of $29.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.81.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $30.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.44 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 13.36%. The firm's revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.07%.

AT&T Company 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.

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