Meridian Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 59,034 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 703 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $1,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in AT&T by 227.6% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 131,813 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 91,578 shares during the last quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 356.5% during the 2nd quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 1,429 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116 shares during the period. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE increased its position in shares of AT&T by 169.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 1,338 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 107.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the period. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of AT&T in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on T shares. Scotiabank cut shares of AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Barclays raised their target price on AT&T from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup boosted their price target on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.40.

AT&T Stock Up 0.9 %

T opened at $23.18 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $166.32 billion, a PE ratio of 18.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.94. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.94 and a 52 week high of $23.29.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. Analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.79%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is 90.24%.

AT&T Company 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.