A Low-Volatility Advisor Bought Up AT&T, Verizon, and Occidental Stock. Here’s What It Sold.

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Gateway Investment Advisers bought much AT&T and Verizon stock, initiated a presumption successful Occidental Petroleum, and sold GE banal successful the 2nd quarter.

Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images

A ample steadfast that specializes successful low-volatility equity strategies precocious made large changes successful its banal investments.

Gateway Investment Advisers bought much AT&T (ticker: T) and Verizon Communications (VZ) stock, initiated a presumption successful Occidental Petroleum (OXY), and lowered its concern successful General Electric (GE) successful the 2nd quarter. The Cincinnati, Ohio-based advisor disclosed the trades, among others, successful a signifier it filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In effect to a petition for comment, Gateway said, “These trades were portion of a regular rebalancing, and are not reflective of immoderate forward-looking appraisal of idiosyncratic companies.”

Gateway manages $10.2 cardinal successful assets. Its “low-volatility strategy seeks to seizure the bulk of the returns associated with equity marketplace investments, portion exposing investors to little hazard than different equity investments,” according to Gateway’s website.

The advisor bought 301,532 much AT&T shares successful the 2nd 4th to extremity June with 1.9 cardinal shares of the communications and media giant.

AT&T banal hasn’t been keeping up with the marketplace twelvemonth to date. Shares ended the archetypal fractional of 2021 flat, and truthful acold successful July they person slipped 1.5%. The S&P 500 index, for comparison, surged 14.4% successful the archetypal half, and has gained 0.7% truthful acold successful July.

AT&T announced a megadeal successful May to combine its media assets, including CNN, HBO, and Warner Bros., with those of Discovery (DISCA) into a caller 3rd entity that volition beryllium spun disconnected oregon divided disconnected to shareholders. AT&T banal slid aft the announcement; investors were dismayed by an expected dividend cut, but insiders bought up shares.

Gateway bought 130,586 further Verizon shares to extremity the 2nd 4th with 1.3 cardinal shares of the communications giant. Verizon banal slid 4.6% successful the archetypal half, and has gained 0.8% truthful acold successful July.

Verizon’s first-quarter study successful May was lackluster. Last month, Verizon agreed to sell its stake successful integer steadfast Complex Networks. Earlier this year, Verizon had agreed to sell astir of its Yahoo and AOL assets.


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Occidental banal rocketed 80.6% successful the archetypal fractional of the year, and truthful acold successful July it has slipped 17.0%.

Upbeat outlooks for lipid prices lifted Occidental banal earlier successful the year. Prices person risen, but remain volatile. We’ve noted that an lipid bull has named Occidental arsenic a favourite stock.

Gateway bought 316,873 Occidental shares successful the 2nd quarter; it hadn’t owned immoderate astatine the end of March.

The advisor sold 238,313 GE shares to extremity the 2nd 4th with 2.5 cardinal shares of the conglomerate. GE banal roseate 24.6% successful the archetypal half, and truthful acold successful July it has slipped 6.8%.

Barron’s reported earlier this period that GE banal seemed acceptable to see immoderate catalysts. Wall Street seems upbeat connected the shares. GE’s Larry Culp made our latest database of apical CEOs. We credited him for facing “structural problems that had been enactment disconnected for years,” arsenic the banal more than doubled successful a year.

Inside Scoop is simply a regular Barron’s diagnostic covering banal transactions by firm executives and committee members—so-called insiders—as good arsenic ample shareholders, politicians, and different salient figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose banal trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission oregon different regulatory groups.

Write to Ed Lin astatine edward.lin@barrons.com and travel @BarronsEdLin.

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