Old North State Trust LLC Sells 1,218 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Old North State Trust LLC lowered its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 5.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,844 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,218 shares during the quarter. Old North State Trust LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $481,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chesapeake Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 1.9% during the third quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 24,304 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $535,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the period. Socha Financial Group LLC raised its stake in AT&T by 2.5% during the third quarter. Socha Financial Group LLC now owns 18,847 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $415,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in AT&T by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 34,468 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $759,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 21,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $476,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hayek Kallen Investment Management raised its position in AT&T by 0.8% in the third quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management now owns 60,271 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of T opened at $23.36 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $167.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.59. The business’s fifty day moving average is $22.47 and its 200 day moving average is $20.51. AT&T Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.94 and a 12-month high of $24.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $30.20 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.75%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on T. Oppenheimer started coverage on AT&T in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of AT&T in a research note on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson upped their price target on AT&T from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.00.

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.