Bill Few Associates Inc. Reduces Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Bill Few Associates Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,490 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,509 shares during the quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $717,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in AT&T by 43.3% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,853,624 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $414,563,000 after purchasing an additional 6,602,586 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 161,120,657 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,532,684,000 after acquiring an additional 3,630,972 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,326,904 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its position in AT&T by 15.8% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 15,769,707 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $346,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152,016 shares during the period. Finally, Caxton Associates LP grew its position in AT&T by 4,115.6% in the 2nd quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 2,151,025 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $41,106,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:T opened at $22.34 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $160.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.16, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.94 and a 12 month high of $24.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $22.80 and its 200 day moving average is $21.40.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The company had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. AT&T’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on T. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of AT&T from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.83.

AT&T 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.