AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Shares Sold by Perpetual Ltd

Perpetual Ltd cut its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 36.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 127,700 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 74,788 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in AT&T were worth $2,908,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in T. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in AT&T in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 169.2% during the third quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 1,338 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in AT&T during the third quarter worth about $36,000. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AT&T Stock Performance

NYSE T opened at $22.49 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $161.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.37. AT&T Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.94 and a 1-year high of $24.03.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Argus upgraded AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on AT&T in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of AT&T from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $26.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.83.

AT&T Company Profile

AT&T, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of telecommunications and technology services. It operates through the Communications and Latin America segments. The Communications segment offers wireless, wireline telecom, and broadband services to businesses and consumers located in the US and businesses globally.