AT&T director Stephen Luczo bought $3 million of shares of the telecom giant. The stock tumbled after AT&T announced a restructuring that includes slashing the dividend.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
AT&T stock tumbled after the communications giant announced that it was restructuring, and director Stephen Luczo bought a large block of shares.
AT&T (ticker: T) said earlier this month that it was planning to combine its media assets—including HBO, Turner, and Warner Brothers—with Discovery (DISCA) in a new, publicly traded company. One part of the announcement that caught many AT&T investors off-guard was that the company would be cutting its dividend, only several weeks after committing to the payout.
Luczo paid $3 million on May 18, the day after the announcement, for 100,000 AT&T shares, a per share average price of $29.80. He made the purchase through a trust, according to a form that he filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Luczo now owns 400,000 AT&T shares through trusts. Luczo, a former Seagate Technology Holdings (STX) chairman and CEO, joined AT&T’s board in late 2019.
AT&T declined to comment and didn’t make Luczo available for comment.
Editor’s Choice
Luczo most recently bought AT&T stock last July, in a similar transaction, paying $3 million for 100,000 shares, a per share average price of $29.69.
He isn’t the only AT&T insider buying up shares.
AT&T chief executive John Stankey and Chief Financial Officer Pascal Desroches bought $1 million and $600,000 of the company’s stock, respectively, on May 19. For Stankey and Desroches, their purchases of AT&T stock on the open market were their first.
Inside Scoop is a regular Barron’s feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members—so-called insiders—as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.
Write to Ed Lin at [email protected] and follow @BarronsEdLin.
