Norges Bank Acquires New Holdings in AT&T Inc. $T

Norges Bank purchased a new position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 77,009,510 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,228,655,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Denali Advisors LLC increased its stake in AT&T by 5.9% in the second quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 401,037 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,606,000 after acquiring an additional 22,394 shares during the last quarter. Tredje AP fonden boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 1,221,395 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,347,000 after purchasing an additional 21,720 shares in the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp increased its position in shares of AT&T by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 324,104 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $9,380,000 after purchasing an additional 4,793 shares during the last quarter. Kickstand Ventures LLC. bought a new stake in AT&T in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $489,000. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in AT&T by 153.2% in the second quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 22,095 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 13,370 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:T opened at $25.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $183.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $26.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. AT&T Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.38 and a 12 month high of $29.79.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.54. AT&T had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 17.87%.The company had revenue of $30.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. AT&T’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on T. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Scotiabank set a $30.25 price target on shares of AT&T and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of AT&T from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Williams Trading set a $33.00 target price on AT&T in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.64.

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.