Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 2,672,034 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 9.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,441,846 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,672,034 shares during the quarter. AT&T accounts for about 1.2% of Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $559,721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake 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 increased its stake in AT&T by 43.3% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,853,624 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $414,563,000 after purchasing an additional 6,602,586 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 5,592,123 shares in the last quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in 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 valued at $477,528,000 after purchasing an additional 4,511,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of AT&T in the second quarter valued at $78,570,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank cut AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.40.

AT&T Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE T opened at $22.83 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.86. The company has a market cap of $163.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. AT&T Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.94 and a 12-month high of $23.20.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The company’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.24%.

About AT&T

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.