Meritage Portfolio Management Reduces Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Meritage Portfolio Management trimmed its position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 39.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 254,288 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 165,232 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in AT&T were worth $5,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in T. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 32.0% in the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 101,042 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,778,000 after purchasing an additional 24,504 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 31.8% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,673,855 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $47,060,000 after buying an additional 645,350 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of AT&T by 21.6% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,048 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $423,000 after buying an additional 4,276 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 8.2% during the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 80,310 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,413,000 after buying an additional 6,085 shares during the period. Finally, Delta Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 4.9% in the first quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC now owns 23,575 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 1,101 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Daiwa America raised shares of AT&T to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson upped their price objective on AT&T from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.40.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:T traded up $0.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $22.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 29,901,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,672,116. AT&T Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.46 and a twelve month high of $22.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.30 billion, a PE ratio of 18.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $21.70 and a 200 day moving average of $19.52.

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

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.97%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio 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.