Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Sells 59,344 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,451,662 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 59,344 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $33,054,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE boosted its position in AT&T by 169.2% during the third quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 1,338 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the period. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T during the third quarter worth $35,000. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $19.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.21.

AT&T Stock Performance

AT&T stock opened at $24.56 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $23.04 and its 200 day moving average is $21.84. The company has a market capitalization of $176.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.48, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.94 and a twelve month high of $24.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. On average, equities research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.50%.

AT&T Company Profile

AT&T, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of telecommunications and technology services. It operates through the Communications and Latin America segments. The Communications segment offers wireless, wireline telecom, and broadband services to businesses and consumers located in the US and businesses globally.