Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Grows Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,485 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,309 shares during the period. Bridgewater Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $787,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Socha Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 2.5% in the third quarter. Socha Financial Group LLC now owns 18,847 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $415,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 0.8% during the third quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management now owns 60,271 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its position in AT&T by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 73,562 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,618,000 after buying an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Spinnaker Trust raised its position in AT&T by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 124,593 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,741,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in AT&T by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 25,313 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:T opened at $22.32 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $21.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.15 billion, a PE ratio of 18.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. AT&T Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.46 and a 12 month high of $22.73.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.97%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.40.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc provides telecommunications and technology services worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Communications and Latin America. The Communications segment offers wireless voice and data communications services; and sells handsets, wireless data cards, wireless computing devices, carrying cases/protective covers, and wireless chargers through its own company-owned stores, agents, and third-party retail stores.