AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Stake Decreased by Old Port Advisors

Old Port Advisors trimmed its holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 105,655 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,447 shares during the quarter. Old Port Advisors’ holdings in AT&T were worth $2,406,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in T. Chesapeake Wealth Management increased its position in AT&T by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 24,304 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the period. Socha Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of AT&T by 2.5% during the third quarter. Socha Financial Group LLC now owns 18,847 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the period. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of AT&T by 1.4% during the third quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 34,468 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $759,000 after buying an additional 468 shares during the period. Essex Savings Bank raised its stake in AT&T by 2.3% during the third quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 21,636 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hayek Kallen Investment Management lifted its holdings in AT&T by 0.8% in the third quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management now owns 60,271 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,326,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on T shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. New Street Research upgraded AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.53.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of AT&T stock traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $22.99. 6,168,015 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 35,480,906. AT&T Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.94 and a 12-month high of $24.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The firm had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.24%.

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.