Wambolt & Associates LLC Sells 16,036 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Wambolt & Associates LLC lowered its position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 49.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,304 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 16,036 shares during the quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AT&T during the 4th quarter worth $1,118,288,000. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in AT&T in the fourth quarter worth about $316,472,000. Kodai Capital Management LP bought a new stake in AT&T during the 4th quarter worth about $152,109,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in AT&T by 120.8% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,086,854 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $152,477,000 after purchasing an additional 4,970,954 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of AT&T by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 75,484,518 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,328,528,000 after buying an additional 4,014,873 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE T traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $18.77. 30,727,771 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 31,550,982. AT&T Inc. has a twelve month low of $13.43 and a twelve month high of $19.32. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $134.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.58.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $30.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.91%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is 59.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Barclays upgraded AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $20.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on AT&T in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of AT&T from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.73.

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.