Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 21.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 40,919 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 10,935 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $1,157,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of T. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 48,579 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 10,188 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 240,392 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,474,000 after acquiring an additional 2,631 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 33.5% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 635,331 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $14,495,000 after acquiring an additional 159,252 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 13,802 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042 shares during the period. Finally, Trilogy Capital Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 12,565 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of T opened at $28.09 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $202.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.85, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $27.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.45. AT&T Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.42 and a 12-month high of $29.03.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $30.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.39 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on T. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective (up previously from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AT&T has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.71.

AT&T Profile

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.