Palisade Asset Management LLC Cuts Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Palisade Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 176,665 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 7,397 shares during the period. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $2,964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in AT&T by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 50,589,421 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $848,888,000 after acquiring an additional 798,024 shares in the last quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of AT&T by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc now owns 31,288 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 2,637 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 133,008 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,232,000 after buying an additional 9,153 shares during the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC grew its position in AT&T by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 42,112 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $707,000 after buying an additional 10,025 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in AT&T by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 249,874 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,193,000 after buying an additional 59,680 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:T traded up $0.03 on Wednesday, hitting $17.11. The stock had a trading volume of 24,775,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,550,602. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $16.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.69. The stock has a market cap of $122.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.17, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. AT&T Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.43 and a 1-year high of $18.16.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. AT&T had a net margin of 11.13% and a return on equity of 14.63%. The firm had revenue of $30.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.49%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

T has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on AT&T from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Citigroup raised their price target on AT&T from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays upgraded AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $20.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.81.

AT&T Company 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.