Moran Wealth Management LLC Trims Holdings in AT&T Inc. $T

Moran Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,020,492 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 7,089 shares during the period. AT&T comprises about 0.9% of Moran Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $29,533,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC acquired a new stake in AT&T in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 2.0% during the second quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 246,177 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,124,000 after buying an additional 4,866 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 1.2% during the second quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 81,435 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,357,000 after buying an additional 970 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 11.7% during the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 81,862 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,369,000 after buying an additional 8,599 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in AT&T by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 621,774 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $17,994,000 after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on AT&T from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective (up previously from $31.00) on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, September 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AT&T has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.75.

AT&T Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of AT&T stock opened at $25.57 on Tuesday. AT&T Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.05 and a 52-week high of $29.79. The company has a 50 day moving average of $28.41 and a 200 day moving average of $27.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $182.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.42.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. AT&T had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 13.36%. The company had revenue of $30.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is 63.07%.

About AT&T

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.