Simplicity Wealth LLC Grows Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 161.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,674 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 25,129 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC's holdings in AT&T were worth $1,150,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in AT&T by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 642,859,644 shares of the technology company's stock worth $14,637,914,000 after purchasing an additional 6,220,442 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in AT&T by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 163,761,301 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,719,723,000 after acquiring an additional 2,640,644 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in AT&T by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,203,667,000 after purchasing an additional 26,280,866 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 85,592,594 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,948,943,000 after purchasing an additional 5,649,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,858,418,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on AT&T from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $31.00 price target (up from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued 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 stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $28.71.

AT&T Stock Down 0.4%

AT&T stock traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $28.23. The stock had a trading volume of 7,169,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,577,386. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. AT&T Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.42 and a 12 month high of $29.03. The company has a market capitalization of $203.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.95, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.56.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $30.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.39 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. AT&T's revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. AT&T's payout ratio is 68.10%.

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.