Handelsbanken Fonder AB Raises Stock Holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 5.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,446,135 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 131,625 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in AT&T were worth $53,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in AT&T by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 25,313 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 2.3% during the second quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 23,650 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC increased its position in AT&T by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC now owns 24,138 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $461,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the period. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in AT&T by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 17,177 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its position in AT&T by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 92,450 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,767,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of T traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $21.91. 24,545,359 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 39,207,784. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. AT&T Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.12 and a 52-week high of $22.34. The company has a market cap of $157.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.78, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.67.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $29.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. AT&T’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is 59.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on T shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.38.

AT&T Company 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.