AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Shares Sold by Walker Asset Management LLC

Walker Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 47,018 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,059 shares during the quarter. AT&T accounts for about 0.7% of Walker Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Walker Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $1,071,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in AT&T during the 2nd quarter worth about $23,888,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth about $14,700,000. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of AT&T by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 21,282,584 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $468,217,000 after buying an additional 104,700 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in AT&T by 41.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,947,913 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $168,969,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326,904 shares during the period. Finally, Caprock Group LLC raised its position in AT&T by 18.3% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 195,991 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,312,000 after acquiring an additional 30,281 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE T opened at $22.30 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $159.97 billion, a PE ratio of 18.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. AT&T Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.94 and a 12-month high of $24.03. The company has a 50-day moving average of $22.79 and a 200 day moving average of $21.29.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The business had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.98%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on AT&T in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.83.

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.