MQS Management LLC Purchases New Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 11,869 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 81,076,641 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,549,375,000 after buying an additional 5,592,123 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of AT&T by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 60,109,127 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,148,689,000 after buying an additional 1,569,374 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in AT&T by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,558,884 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $985,307,000 after buying an additional 1,007,228 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 1.1% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 30,092,610 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $575,070,000 after acquiring an additional 315,580 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on T shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of AT&T to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.40.

AT&T Stock Down 0.2 %

AT&T stock opened at $22.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $159.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.64 and a 52-week high of $22.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $21.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.65.

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

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.99%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is 90.24%.

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.