AT&T Inc. $T Shares Sold by Vise Technologies Inc.

Vise Technologies Inc. decreased its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 593,659 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 75,060 shares during the quarter. Vise Technologies Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $14,485,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Grandfield & Dodd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 3rd quarter valued at $222,000. Investment Partners LTD. increased its position in AT&T by 44.5% during the third quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 19,582 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $478,000 after buying an additional 6,035 shares during the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. increased its position in AT&T by 7.3% during the third quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 133,331 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,253,000 after buying an additional 9,065 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments raised its holdings in AT&T by 101.1% during the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 61,951 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after buying an additional 31,144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Americana Partners LLC raised its holdings in AT&T by 1.1% during the third quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 754,249 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $18,404,000 after buying an additional 8,370 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of AT&T stock opened at $21.45 on Monday. AT&T Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.89 and a 1 year high of $29.43. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.96. The company has a market cap of $144.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.59, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.05. AT&T had a net margin of 10.19% and a return on equity of 13.41%. The firm had revenue of $32.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 12th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.00%.

Key Stories Impacting AT&T

Here are the key news stories impacting AT&T this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fresh estimates indicate that building a nationwide wireless network would be expensive for SpaceX, reducing the near-term threat to established carriers such as AT&T. T-Mobile’s decision not to pursue an MVNO arrangement with SpaceX also suggests incumbents are not immediately embracing the proposed rival. T-Mobile, SpaceX and wireless competition article
• Positive Sentiment: Televisa expects AT&T’s planned purchase to strengthen its competitive position. A stronger strategic footprint could support AT&T’s long-term growth and operating leverage, although the transaction is expected to increase debt. Televisa expects AT&T purchase to strengthen position
• Neutral Sentiment: Wireless pioneer Ray Dolan suggested mobile internet could eventually become free if carriers monetize data collected from cell-tower sensing. The idea highlights a possible future revenue stream for AT&T, but it is speculative and unlikely to affect near-term earnings. Wireless carriers and free mobile internet article
• Negative Sentiment: AT&T’s dividend payments reportedly fell 46% while the company directed billions toward share repurchases. Buybacks can support per-share earnings and signal management confidence, but the reduced dividend is a drawback for income-focused investors and raises questions about whether capital returns are being shifted away from cash payouts. AT&T dividend payments and stock buybacks article

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on T shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Friday. Wolfe Research upgraded AT&T from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $29.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of AT&T from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.55.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc (NYSE: T) is a telecommunications company that provides wireless communications, broadband, and related connectivity services. Its offerings include mobile voice and data plans, internet access, fiber broadband, fixed wireless services, and business communications solutions.

The company serves consumers, businesses, government agencies, and other organizations primarily in the United States. AT&T’s business operations include wireless network services, wireline connectivity, fiber-optic internet, voice services, and networking solutions designed to connect locations, devices, and applications.

AT&T traces its history to the Bell System and has operated under its current corporate name since 2005, following the acquisition of AT&T Corp.