Simplicity Wealth LLC Cuts Holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Simplicity Wealth LLC decreased its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 46.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,545 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 13,516 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $354,000 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. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 4,986.1% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,913,960 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $225,741,000 after purchasing an additional 9,719,036 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 85,592,594 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,948,943,000 after purchasing an additional 5,649,277 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 33,963,826 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $753,318,000 after purchasing an additional 5,614,168 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 2.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 161,120,657 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,532,684,000 after purchasing an additional 3,630,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 41.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,947,913 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $168,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,326,904 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Performance

NYSE:T opened at $27.30 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $24.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. AT&T Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.94 and a 1-year high of $27.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.32, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. Analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

T has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Argus raised shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, New Street Research raised shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.74.

About AT&T

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.