Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Sells 10,153 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC reduced its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 12.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 73,263 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 10,153 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $2,072,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Napatree Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 1st quarter valued at about $214,000. Allen Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 22,527 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. Trust Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of AT&T by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 58,958 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,667,000 after purchasing an additional 11,022 shares during the last quarter. Postrock Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the first quarter worth approximately $211,000. Finally, James Investment Research Inc. boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 38.0% during the first quarter. James Investment Research Inc. now owns 80,415 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,274,000 after buying an additional 22,144 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Up 0.2%

AT&T stock opened at $27.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.70. AT&T Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.14 and a fifty-two week high of $29.19. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.41. The company has a market capitalization of $194.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.57, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.42.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $30.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.39 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 9.64% and a return on equity of 13.63%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $31.00 price target (up previously from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $29.50 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on AT&T from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.17.

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.