Synovus Financial Corp Lowers Stock Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Synovus Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 12.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 837,588 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 123,331 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in AT&T were worth $18,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 1.7% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 640,725 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $14,096,000 after purchasing an additional 10,954 shares during the period. Destination Wealth Management acquired a new position in AT&T during the third quarter worth about $240,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in AT&T by 386.1% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 266,565 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,864,000 after buying an additional 211,723 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 28.4% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 174,118 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,831,000 after acquiring an additional 38,548 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of AT&T by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 1,100,943 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,520,000 after acquiring an additional 144,119 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on T. Moffett Nathanson raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.00.

AT&T Price Performance

AT&T stock opened at $23.36 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.99, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $22.47 and a 200-day moving average of $20.51. AT&T Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.94 and a 52-week high of $24.03.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The company had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.50 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.75%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

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.