QRG Capital Management Inc. Sells 868,834 Shares of AT&T Inc. $T

QRG Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 45.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,025,674 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 868,834 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $28,965,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in AT&T by 1.6% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 661,355,210 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $19,139,620,000 after purchasing an additional 10,310,560 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 2.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 321,070,509 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,291,781,000 after buying an additional 7,404,376 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in AT&T during the 2nd quarter valued at $5,266,758,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AT&T by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 172,039,872 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,958,066,000 after buying an additional 2,066,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in AT&T in the 2nd quarter worth $2,228,655,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AT&T Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE:T opened at $23.50 on Friday. AT&T Inc. has a one year low of $21.98 and a one year high of $29.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.63, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $30.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.85 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Williams Trading set a $33.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wolfe Research cut shares of AT&T from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $29.50 price objective on shares of AT&T in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AT&T currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.36.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc is a global telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and digital entertainment services. Its core activities include consumer and business wireless services, broadband and fiber internet, and network infrastructure. The company operates branded wireless services through AT&T Mobility and deploys fixed-line and fiber networks to deliver high-speed internet and related home services.

AT&T’s product and service portfolio spans mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and device sales, home internet (including fiber-to-the-home where available), and managed connectivity solutions for enterprise customers.