Rodgers Brothers Inc. Trims Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Rodgers Brothers Inc. lowered its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 4.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,793 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,146 shares during the period. Rodgers Brothers Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter worth $11,554,000. Provence Wealth Management Group lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 16,217 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 5,807 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 250.3% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 67,303 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,129,000 after purchasing an additional 48,091 shares during the period. Retireful LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter worth $1,163,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 46,265 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $776,000 after purchasing an additional 5,161 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on T. StockNews.com lowered AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on AT&T from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays increased their target price on AT&T from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on AT&T from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on AT&T in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AT&T has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.33.

AT&T Stock Performance

NYSE T traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $19.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 30,764,250 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,830,707. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.45. AT&T Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.89 and a 52 week high of $19.74. The stock has a market cap of $136.30 billion, a PE ratio of 10.24, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.58.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57. AT&T had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 14.16%. The firm had revenue of $29.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. AT&T’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.84%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.68%.

AT&T 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.