AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 4.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,506,642 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 537,535 shares during the period. AT&T accounts for 0.4% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $325,377,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capstone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T during the first quarter worth approximately $201,000. DigitalBridge Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AT&T by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. now owns 2,865,814 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $65,255,000 after purchasing an additional 365,776 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in shares of AT&T by 7.9% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 123,247 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,302,000 after purchasing an additional 9,027 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 10.2% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 1,109,933 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,389,000 after purchasing an additional 102,419 shares during the period. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 7.5% during the first quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 129,428 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,660,000 after purchasing an additional 8,989 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective (up previously from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of AT&T in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $29.50 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.66.

AT&T Stock Up 0.2%

T opened at $28.15 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.81. AT&T Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.97 and a twelve month high of $29.19. The firm has a market cap of $201.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.42.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $30.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.44 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 13.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.07%.

About AT&T

AT&T, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of telecommunications and technology services. It operates through the Communications and Latin America segments. The Communications segment offers wireless, wireline telecom, and broadband services to businesses and consumers located in the US and businesses globally.