Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Reduces Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lessened its position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 0.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,320,084 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 57,010 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned about 0.09% of AT&T worth $120,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in AT&T by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 624,994,998 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,999,912,000 after acquiring an additional 2,588,539 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in AT&T by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 81,076,641 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,549,375,000 after acquiring an additional 5,592,123 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 30,092,610 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $575,070,000 after buying an additional 315,580 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 28,113,880 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $537,256,000 after buying an additional 675,082 shares during the period. Finally, Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,988,396 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $477,528,000 after buying an additional 4,511,725 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of T opened at $21.52 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $19.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.34. The stock has a market cap of $154.30 billion, a PE ratio of 11.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a 12 month low of $14.12 and a 12 month high of $22.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

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

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.16%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on T. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Moffett Nathanson raised their price objective on AT&T from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on AT&T from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.31.

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.