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

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in AT&T by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 26,161 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 48.6% in the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 59,394 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,352,000 after buying an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 12,383 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the period. Finally, Northeast Investment Management increased its holdings in AT&T by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Northeast Investment Management now owns 51,198 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,166,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $19.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays increased their price target on AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.79.

AT&T Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE T opened at $28.20 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. AT&T Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.94 and a 12-month high of $28.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $25.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56.

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

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.50%.

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.