Trust Co. of Vermont Decreases Stock Holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Trust Co. of Vermont lowered its position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 106,472 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,950 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in AT&T were worth $2,342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in AT&T by 1,379.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,159,133 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $270,581,000 after purchasing an additional 13,201,774 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in AT&T by 43.3% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,853,624 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $414,563,000 after buying an additional 6,602,586 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in AT&T by 7.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 81,076,641 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,549,375,000 after buying an additional 5,592,123 shares in the last quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in AT&T by 22.0% in the second quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,988,396 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $477,528,000 after buying an additional 4,511,725 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in AT&T during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $78,570,000. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Price Performance

NYSE T opened at $21.85 on Friday. AT&T Inc. has a one year low of $14.74 and a one year high of $22.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $20.95 and a 200 day moving average of $18.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $156.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.75, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.60.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57. The firm had revenue of $29.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.05 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 14.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.08%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 59.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on T shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of AT&T from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Daiwa America raised shares of AT&T to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.69.

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.