TPG Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

TPG Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 9,898 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in AT&T by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 624,994,998 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,999,912,000 after acquiring an additional 2,588,539 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 81,076,641 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,549,375,000 after purchasing an additional 5,592,123 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 60,109,127 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,148,689,000 after purchasing an additional 1,569,374 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,558,884 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $985,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007,228 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its stake in AT&T by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 30,092,610 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $575,070,000 after buying an additional 315,580 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AT&T Price Performance

T stock traded down $0.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $22.44. The stock had a trading volume of 5,284,739 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,634,762. AT&T Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.46 and a 1-year high of $22.73. The stock has a market cap of $161.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $21.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.95%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on T shares. Scotiabank cut shares of AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Hsbc Global Res raised AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Daiwa America raised AT&T to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.