State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Cuts Stock Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,605,179 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 22,726 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in AT&T were worth $57,314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in AT&T by 227.6% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 131,813 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 91,578 shares in the last quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 356.5% during the second quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 1,429 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,116 shares during the period. American Capital Advisory LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA raised its stake in AT&T by 176.6% in the second quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 1,867 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,192 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of AT&T to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.40.

AT&T Stock Performance

NYSE T traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $22.34. 29,901,560 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 34,672,116. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $160.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.46 and a 12-month high of $22.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $21.70 and a 200 day moving average of $19.54.

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

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.97%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 90.24%.

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.