AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Shares Acquired by New Century Financial Group LLC

New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 6.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 64,631 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,179 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $1,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ariadne Wealth Management LP purchased a new position in AT&T during the second quarter worth about $465,000. PVG Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of AT&T in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $212,000. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 63.4% during the 2nd quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 41,302 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $789,000 after purchasing an additional 16,030 shares during the period. LHM Inc. increased its holdings in AT&T by 36.0% in the 2nd quarter. LHM Inc. now owns 327,261 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,254,000 after purchasing an additional 86,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. raised its position in AT&T by 5.3% in the second quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 22,546 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 1,131 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

T has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded AT&T from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of AT&T from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.38.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of NYSE T opened at $21.99 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.64 billion, a PE ratio of 11.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.12 and a fifty-two week high of $22.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.70.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57. The company had revenue of $29.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.05 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 14.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is 59.68%.

AT&T Company 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.