AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Stake Trimmed by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,074,867 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 19,907 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $18,036,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC boosted its position in AT&T by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 17,888 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 1,941 shares during the period. Roundview Capital LLC boosted its position in AT&T by 62.3% during the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 24,628 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 9,450 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in AT&T by 23.1% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,099,843 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,983,000 after acquiring an additional 206,434 shares during the period. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. boosted its position in AT&T by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 476,601 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,262,000 after acquiring an additional 25,028 shares during the period. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its position in AT&T by 1,191.3% during the 1st quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 12,706 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 11,722 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of T traded up $0.18 on Friday, reaching $16.51. 45,814,895 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,577,504. The firm has a market cap of $118.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. AT&T Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.43 and a 12 month high of $18.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $17.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.49.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.44 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 15.39%. AT&T’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer upgraded AT&T from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 19th. Barclays lifted their price target on AT&T from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded AT&T from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.68.

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.