Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Boosts Stock Holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 2.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,245,347 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,476 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in AT&T were worth $23,799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of T. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth about $11,554,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 250.3% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 67,303 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,129,000 after acquiring an additional 48,091 shares in the last quarter. Skopos Labs Inc. bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $839,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 4.3% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,037,529 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $19,827,000 after purchasing an additional 43,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new stake in AT&T in the first quarter worth $9,074,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Trading Up 1.5 %

AT&T stock traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $20.97. The company had a trading volume of 53,079,539 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,856,078. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $150.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $19.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.00. AT&T Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.12 and a 1 year high of $21.00.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57. The firm had revenue of $29.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.05 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.16% and a net margin of 10.41%. AT&T’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.29%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on AT&T from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded AT&T to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.06.

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.