Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Reduces Stock Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. trimmed its holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 4.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,854 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 3,720 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $1,717,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vantage Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in AT&T by 25.5% in the 4th quarter. Vantage Financial Partners LLC now owns 38,207 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $641,000 after purchasing an additional 7,762 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its position in AT&T by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 31,130 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $522,000 after buying an additional 1,212 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in AT&T by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 27,770 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $466,000 after acquiring an additional 1,194 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 27,253 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 4,870 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 250.3% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 67,303 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,129,000 after acquiring an additional 48,091 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE T opened at $21.54 on Monday. AT&T Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.12 and a 1 year high of $22.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.45 billion, a PE ratio of 11.58, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The business’s 50-day moving average is $19.88 and its 200 day moving average is $18.35.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57. The firm had revenue of $29.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.05 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.16% and a net margin of 10.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is 59.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on T shares. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of AT&T from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Daiwa America upgraded AT&T to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised AT&T from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.31.

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.