Poplar Forest Capital LLC Sells 4,101 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Poplar Forest Capital LLC lowered its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 0.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,614,655 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,101 shares during the period. AT&T accounts for approximately 4.8% of Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $35,522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Socha Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Socha Financial Group LLC now owns 18,847 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management now owns 60,271 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,326,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 73,562 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,618,000 after buying an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Spinnaker Trust raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 124,593 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,741,000 after buying an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 25,313 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on T. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup lifted their target price on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Moffett Nathanson lifted their target price on AT&T from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.40.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of T stock opened at $22.32 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. AT&T Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.46 and a fifty-two week high of $22.73. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $21.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.46. The firm has a market cap of $160.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.15, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.59.

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

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.97%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.