Joseph Group Capital Management Boosts Stock Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Joseph Group Capital Management increased its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 4.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 186,976 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 7,991 shares during the quarter. AT&T comprises 1.6% of Joseph Group Capital Management’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Joseph Group Capital Management’s holdings in AT&T were worth $4,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 1,379.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,159,133 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $270,581,000 after purchasing an additional 13,201,774 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in AT&T by 43.3% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,853,624 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $414,563,000 after buying an additional 6,602,586 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in AT&T by 7.4% during the second 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. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AT&T by 22.0% during the second quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,988,396 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $477,528,000 after acquiring an additional 4,511,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $78,570,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

T has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. 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. Redburn Atlantic upgraded AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.40.

AT&T Price Performance

T stock opened at $22.99 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $164.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.85 and a fifty-two week high of $23.20. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $21.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.79.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.