First Merchants Corp Raises Holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

First Merchants Corp increased its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 14.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,407 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,110 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in AT&T were worth $374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Palacios Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T during the fourth quarter worth $455,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T in the 4th quarter worth approximately $225,000. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in AT&T by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 31,335 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $713,000 after acquiring an additional 5,506 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 3,439,725 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $78,632,000 after purchasing an additional 12,931 shares during the period. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 41,124 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $936,000 after purchasing an additional 4,232 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of T opened at $25.88 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $23.19 and its 200-day moving average is $21.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a one year low of $15.94 and a one year high of $25.93. 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 announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is 74.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. DZ Bank raised AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. New Street Research upgraded shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. BNP Paribas raised shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $28.50 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Argus raised AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.33.

AT&T 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.