Avestar Capital LLC Grows Stock Holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Avestar Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 10.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,892 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,556 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $812,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 1,379.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,159,133 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $270,581,000 after purchasing an additional 13,201,774 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in AT&T by 43.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,853,624 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $414,563,000 after buying an additional 6,602,586 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in AT&T by 7.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 81,076,641 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,549,375,000 after buying an additional 5,592,123 shares during the period. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AT&T by 22.0% in the second quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,988,396 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $477,528,000 after acquiring an additional 4,511,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of AT&T in the 2nd quarter valued at $78,570,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:T opened at $23.09 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.04. AT&T Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.94 and a fifty-two week high of $23.32. The company has a market cap of $165.68 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.59.

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

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank downgraded AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Barclays increased their target price on AT&T from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.40.

AT&T Profile

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.