AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,311,350 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 93,786 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in AT&T were worth $50,850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of T. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its stake in AT&T by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 140,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,080,000 after buying an additional 23,000 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 41.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,947,913 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $168,969,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326,904 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of AT&T by 1.7% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 640,725 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $14,096,000 after acquiring an additional 10,954 shares during the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of AT&T in the third quarter worth about $240,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in AT&T by 386.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 266,565 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,864,000 after purchasing an additional 211,723 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Performance

T stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $23.33. The stock had a trading volume of 1,316,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,382,637. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.51. AT&T Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.94 and a 52 week high of $24.03.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. AT&T’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.76%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on T shares. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on AT&T in a report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price target on AT&T from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.00.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc provides telecommunications and technology services worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Communications and Latin America. The Communications segment offers wireless voice and data communications services; and sells handsets, wireless data cards, wireless computing devices, carrying cases/protective covers, and wireless chargers through its own company-owned stores, agents, and third-party retail stores.