Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 85,482 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 39.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 299,931 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 85,482 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $6,829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE raised its position in AT&T by 169.2% in the third quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 1,338 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in AT&T in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in AT&T in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T in the third quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Up 1.2 %

T stock opened at $22.30 on Friday. AT&T Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.94 and a fifty-two week high of $24.03. The company has a market capitalization of $159.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $22.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.31.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The company had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.98%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised AT&T from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AT&T presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.83.

AT&T Profile

AT&T, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of telecommunications and technology services. It operates through the Communications and Latin America segments. The Communications segment offers wireless, wireline telecom, and broadband services to businesses and consumers located in the US and businesses globally.