Palisade Asset Management LLC Sells 7,397 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Palisade Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 176,665 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 7,397 shares during the quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $2,964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 35.3% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,322 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. JB Capital LLC boosted its holdings in AT&T by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 26,620 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the period. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC grew its position in AT&T by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,601 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 620 shares during the last quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AT&T by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 111,852 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,877,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the period. Finally, Schubert & Co raised its holdings in AT&T by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Schubert & Co now owns 32,333 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on T. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of AT&T from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 19th. Wolfe Research raised AT&T from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com cut AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AT&T presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.81.

AT&T Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:T traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $17.11. The stock had a trading volume of 24,775,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,550,602. AT&T Inc. has a one year low of $13.43 and a one year high of $18.16. The company has a market capitalization of $122.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.17, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $16.98 and a 200 day moving average of $16.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $30.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.62 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 11.13% and a return on equity of 14.63%. The company’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.24 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.49%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 59.68%.

AT&T 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.