Bridgewater Associates LP Increases Stock Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Bridgewater Associates LP increased its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 38.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,289,648 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 355,527 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in AT&T were worth $28,372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE grew its holdings in AT&T by 169.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 1,338 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 356.5% during the second quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 1,429 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116 shares during the period. American Capital Advisory LLC increased its position in AT&T by 107.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in AT&T during the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of AT&T in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AT&T Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of T opened at $23.27 on Thursday. AT&T Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.94 and a twelve month high of $23.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.07.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The company had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. AT&T’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.77%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank cut AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Moffett Nathanson raised their price target on AT&T from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.53.

AT&T Profile

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.