Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 2,157 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. cut its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 36,552 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,157 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $832,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in AT&T by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 53,057,676 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,208,123,000 after acquiring an additional 414,984 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,163,337 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,489,000 after purchasing an additional 193,406 shares during the last quarter. Unified Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $864,000. Wernau Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,853,000. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its position in AT&T by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 60,044 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of T opened at $26.19 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.72. AT&T Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.94 and a 52-week high of $27.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $188.03 billion, a PE ratio of 17.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. Sell-side analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

T has been the subject of several research reports. New Street Research raised AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $28.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.74.

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.