Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 1,422 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,491 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,422 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $990,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at $14,700,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in AT&T by 41.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,947,913 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $168,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,326,904 shares during the period. Consolidated Planning Corp raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 320,089 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,288,000 after purchasing an additional 21,927 shares in the last quarter. Fortress Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter worth approximately $691,000. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AT&T by 70.4% during the fourth quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 37,961 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $864,000 after purchasing an additional 15,680 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on T. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on AT&T from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. BNP Paribas upgraded AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $28.50 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AT&T has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.79.

AT&T Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:T opened at $28.20 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. AT&T Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.94 and a 52-week high of $28.51. The stock has a market cap of $202.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.92, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $25.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.54.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. Equities analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.50%.

AT&T Company 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.