Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in AT&T Inc. $T

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. reduced its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,569,484 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 24,715 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $45,420,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in AT&T by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 48,579 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 10,188 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group increased its position in shares of AT&T by 10.3% in the first quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 24,516 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $693,000 after buying an additional 2,293 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the 1st quarter worth approximately $355,000. First American Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. First American Trust FSB now owns 11,887 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $336,000 after buying an additional 531 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 36.2% during the 1st quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 292,143 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,262,000 after buying an additional 77,635 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AT&T Stock Down 1.9%

T stock opened at $24.80 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $25.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.34. AT&T Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.38 and a 12 month high of $29.79. The company has a market cap of $175.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.05, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.38.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $30.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on T. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $33.00 price target (up previously from $31.00) on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Williams Trading set a $33.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Scotiabank set a $30.25 price target on shares of AT&T and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AT&T has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.64.

AT&T Company 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.