Ifrah Financial Services Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Ifrah Financial Services Inc. decreased its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 4.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,909 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 934 shares during the period. Ifrah Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $563,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,858,418,000. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 37.3% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,203,667,000 after buying an additional 26,280,866 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 53,432,827 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,216,665,000 after buying an additional 12,881,578 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 78,148,354 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,779,438,000 after buying an additional 10,945,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 47,651,898 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,085,034,000 after buying an additional 7,347,354 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on T shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price objective (up previously from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.90.

AT&T Price Performance

NYSE:T opened at $28.33 on Friday. AT&T Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.14 and a 12 month high of $29.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $27.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $203.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $30.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.39 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 9.64%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.10%.

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.