Kentucky Retirement Systems Trims Holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 0.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 540,317 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,675 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in AT&T were worth $10,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in T. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in AT&T by 227.6% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 131,813 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 91,578 shares during the period. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. raised its position in AT&T by 356.5% in the second quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 1,429 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116 shares during the period. Finally, American Capital Advisory LLC raised its position in AT&T by 107.5% in the second quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE T opened at $21.74 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $155.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The business has a 50-day moving average of $19.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.28. AT&T Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.12 and a 1 year high of $22.34.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57. The company had revenue of $29.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.05 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.16% and a net margin of 10.41%. AT&T’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 59.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on T. Barclays lifted their price objective on AT&T from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. BNP Paribas raised AT&T from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on AT&T from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.31.

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.