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

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 9.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,913 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,600 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $988,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its position in AT&T by 27.9% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 44,033 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $775,000 after purchasing an additional 9,602 shares during the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 2.5% in the first quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 71,279 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,255,000 after buying an additional 1,716 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of AT&T during the first quarter valued at approximately $9,074,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new position in AT&T in the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,321,000. Finally, Spirepoint Private Client LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the first quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

T has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Daiwa America upgraded AT&T to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Moffett Nathanson boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.40.

AT&T Stock Up 2.0 %

T stock opened at $22.69 on Friday. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $21.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.71. The firm has a market cap of $162.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.45, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.75 and a 1-year high of $22.75.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. Research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.89%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.24%.

AT&T Company Profile

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.