Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Has $988,000 Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 44,913 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,600 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $988,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of T. Socha Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in AT&T by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Socha Financial Group LLC now owns 18,847 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares during the period. Essex Savings Bank increased its position in shares of AT&T by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 21,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management raised its stake in AT&T by 0.8% in the third quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management now owns 60,271 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,326,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its position in shares of AT&T by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 73,562 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,618,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spinnaker Trust raised its holdings in AT&T by 0.4% during the third quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 124,593 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,741,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on T shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.40.

AT&T Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of T opened at $22.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. AT&T Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.75 and a 12 month high of $22.75. The stock has a market cap of $162.81 billion, a PE ratio of 18.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $21.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.71.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The company had revenue of $30.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. AT&T’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.89%. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

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.