Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Increases Holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 562,151 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,763 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in AT&T were worth $9,045,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in T. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AT&T during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA increased its position in shares of AT&T by 35.3% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,322 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 606 shares during the period. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP bought a new stake in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AT&T Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of AT&T stock traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $18.66. 11,057,692 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 36,517,922. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $133.80 billion, a PE ratio of 10.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $17.75 and a 200-day moving average of $17.23. AT&T Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.43 and a 12 month high of $19.32.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $30.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.62 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 11.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.95%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

T has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. StockNews.com lowered AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on AT&T in a research note on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on AT&T from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.73.

About AT&T

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.