Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Lowers Stock Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 49,513 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,307 shares during the period. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $946,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of T. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,118,288,000. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $316,472,000. Kodai Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $152,109,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in AT&T by 120.8% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,086,854 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $152,477,000 after acquiring an additional 4,970,954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in AT&T by 5.6% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 75,484,518 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,328,528,000 after acquiring an additional 4,014,873 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of AT&T stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Monday, hitting $19.48. 20,495,778 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,281,441. The stock has a market cap of $139.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $18.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.73. AT&T Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.92 and a 12-month high of $19.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.57. AT&T had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 14.16%. The business had revenue of $29.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were paid a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.70%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on T shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Scotiabank lowered shares of AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AT&T has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.06.

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.