Westpac Banking Corp Makes New Investment in AT&T Inc. $T

Key Points

• Westpac Banking Corp acquired 40,375 AT&T shares in the second quarter, worth approximately $836,000. Institutional investors collectively own 57.1% of AT&T’s outstanding stock.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with AT&T carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $29.19, above its reported $25.70 share price.
• AT&T beat quarterly earnings expectations with EPS of $0.65 versus $0.59 anticipated, while revenue rose 2.3% year over year to $31.56 billion. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.2775 per share, producing an annualized yield of about 4.3%.

Westpac Banking Corp purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 40,375 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $836,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of T. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 332,089,723 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $8,249,109,000 after buying an additional 8,314,678 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in AT&T by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 125,191,700 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,629,307,000 after buying an additional 5,449,222 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AT&T in the 4th quarter worth $2,181,977,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in AT&T by 3.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 75,323,574 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,559,198,000 after acquiring an additional 2,559,065 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in AT&T by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 51,600,464 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,281,756,000 after acquiring an additional 225,708 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on AT&T from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised AT&T from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $30.00 price target on AT&T in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of AT&T from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AT&T has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $29.19.

AT&T Price Performance

NYSE:T opened at $25.70 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $176.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.23. AT&T Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.89 and a 12 month high of $29.79. The business's 50-day moving average is $22.88 and its 200 day moving average is $25.26.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 12.86% and a net margin of 16.94%.The company had revenue of $31.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. AT&T has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.350 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.75%.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc is a global telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and digital entertainment services. Its core activities include consumer and business wireless services, broadband and fiber internet, and network infrastructure. The company operates branded wireless services through AT&T Mobility and deploys fixed-line and fiber networks to deliver high-speed internet and related home services.

AT&T's product and service portfolio spans mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and device sales, home internet (including fiber-to-the-home where available), and managed connectivity solutions for enterprise customers.

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