Wambolt & Associates LLC Reduces Stock Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Wambolt & Associates LLC decreased its position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 49.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,304 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 16,036 shares during the quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of T. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AT&T during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. First Pacific Financial raised its position in shares of AT&T by 166.7% in the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 1,600 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA raised its holdings in AT&T by 35.3% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,322 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Performance

AT&T stock traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $18.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 30,727,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,550,982. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. AT&T Inc. has a twelve month low of $13.43 and a twelve month high of $19.32. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $17.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.25. The firm has a market cap of $134.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.09, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.58.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. AT&T had a net margin of 11.13% and a return on equity of 14.63%. The business had revenue of $30.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on T. Barclays upgraded AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $20.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of AT&T in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. StockNews.com cut AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded AT&T from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AT&T presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.73.

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.