Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Raises Stake in AT&T Inc. $T

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 3.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,000,753 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 34,523 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in AT&T were worth $28,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in AT&T by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 34,684 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $979,000 after purchasing an additional 7,543 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of AT&T by 31.4% during the 3rd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 817,293 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $23,080,000 after purchasing an additional 195,519 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in shares of AT&T by 11.4% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 1,045,403 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,521,000 after buying an additional 106,879 shares during the period. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the third quarter valued at about $228,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management raised its position in shares of AT&T by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 212,168 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,992,000 after acquiring an additional 22,772 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of AT&T from $32.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on AT&T from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Arete Research set a $20.00 target price on AT&T in a report on Tuesday. Williams Trading set a $33.00 price target on AT&T in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of AT&T from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.42.

AT&T Trading Down 0.7%

AT&T stock opened at $24.00 on Friday. AT&T Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.38 and a 52-week high of $29.79. The company has a market cap of $170.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.78.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.54. AT&T had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The business had revenue of $30.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is 36.04%.

AT&T Profile

AT&T Inc is a global telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and digital entertainment services. Its core activities include consumer and business wireless services, broadband and fiber internet, and network infrastructure. The company operates branded wireless services through AT&T Mobility and deploys fixed-line and fiber networks to deliver high-speed internet and related home services.

AT&T’s product and service portfolio spans mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and device sales, home internet (including fiber-to-the-home where available), and managed connectivity solutions for enterprise customers.