Stamos Capital Partners L.P. Trims Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Stamos Capital Partners L.P. reduced its position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 297,340 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 30,240 shares during the quarter. AT&T accounts for about 1.6% of Stamos Capital Partners L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Stamos Capital Partners L.P.'s holdings in AT&T were worth $6,770,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of T. Norges Bank purchased a new position in AT&T in the 4th quarter worth about $1,858,418,000. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,203,667,000 after purchasing an additional 26,280,866 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in AT&T by 4,986.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,913,960 shares of the technology company's stock worth $225,741,000 after purchasing an additional 9,719,036 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in AT&T by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 47,651,898 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,085,034,000 after purchasing an additional 7,347,354 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in AT&T by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 642,859,644 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $14,637,914,000 after buying an additional 6,220,442 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of T stock traded up $0.10 on Thursday, reaching $27.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 24,758,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,634,272. AT&T Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.06 and a 1 year high of $29.03. 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's fifty day simple moving average is $26.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.07. The company has a market capitalization of $194.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. Analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. AT&T's payout ratio is presently 74.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on T shares. Argus raised shares of AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on AT&T from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded AT&T from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $28.50 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AT&T has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.24.

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.