Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Sells 638,667 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 6.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,749,805 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 638,667 shares during the quarter. AT&T makes up about 2.0% of Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $275,724,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of T. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in AT&T in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC grew its stake in AT&T by 182.1% in the 1st quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC now owns 993 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in AT&T in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Core Alternative Capital grew its stake in AT&T by 125.4% in the 1st quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 1,021 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on T. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. 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 MarketBeat.com, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.66.

AT&T Price Performance

NYSE:T opened at $28.76 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $27.89 and a 200-day moving average of $27.16. The company has a market capitalization of $205.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.34, a PEG ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.42. AT&T Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.97 and a 52 week high of $29.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.81.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $30.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.44 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 13.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.07%.

About AT&T

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.