Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 27,705 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 386,335 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 27,705 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in AT&T were worth $8,797,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of T. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter worth approximately $14,700,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in AT&T by 41.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,947,913 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $168,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,326,904 shares during the last quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 320,089 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,288,000 after purchasing an additional 21,927 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 18.3% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 195,991 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,312,000 after purchasing an additional 30,281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortress Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $691,000. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AT&T Stock Performance

AT&T stock opened at $26.60 on Wednesday. AT&T Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.94 and a fifty-two week high of $27.97. The stock has a market cap of $190.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.86, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. As a group, analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on T shares. Barclays increased their price target on AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Argus upgraded AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $19.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.74.

About AT&T

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.