AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Shares Sold by Sterling Investment Counsel LLC

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC decreased its position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 18,853 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,060 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $415,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 20,002 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 2,186 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,436,000. Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 20,299 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 4,679 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 174,890 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,078,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RMR Wealth Builders purchased a new position in shares of AT&T in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $196,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on T. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on AT&T from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Scotiabank downgraded AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Moffett Nathanson lifted their price target on AT&T from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Daiwa America upgraded AT&T to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AT&T has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.69.

AT&T Trading Up 2.7 %

NYSE T traded up $0.57 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $22.07. 15,339,630 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,470,203. The business’s 50 day moving average is $21.03 and its 200-day moving average is $19.04. AT&T Inc. has a 12-month low of $14.74 and a 12-month high of $22.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.70.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.57. The firm had revenue of $29.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.05 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.16% and a net margin of 10.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.03%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.79%.

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.