AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Shares Sold by Poplar Forest Capital LLC

Poplar Forest Capital LLC lowered its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 0.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,614,655 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,101 shares during the period. AT&T comprises about 4.8% of Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $35,522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 624,994,998 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,999,912,000 after purchasing an additional 2,588,539 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake 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 buying an additional 5,592,123 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in AT&T by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 60,109,127 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,148,689,000 after buying an additional 1,569,374 shares during the period. 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 raised its stake in AT&T by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 30,092,610 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $575,070,000 after buying an additional 315,580 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Redburn Atlantic raised AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank lowered AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Citigroup increased their price objective on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on AT&T from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating 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 assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AT&T has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.40.

AT&T Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:T opened at $22.32 on Thursday. AT&T Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.46 and a 1 year high of $22.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.15 billion, a PE ratio of 18.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.46.

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

AT&T Announces Dividend

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

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.