Covington Capital Management Sells 5,713 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Covington Capital Management trimmed its position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T – Get Rating) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,003 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 5,713 shares during the period. Covington Capital Management’s holdings in AT&T were worth $951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC grew its holdings in AT&T by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 47,356 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,119,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management grew its holdings in AT&T by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 32,723 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. Fusion Capital LLC grew its holdings in AT&T by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fusion Capital LLC now owns 26,528 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. BDO Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in AT&T by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. BDO Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,790 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Certified Advisory Corp grew its holdings in AT&T by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 23,260 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares during the last quarter. 51.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AT&T Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:T opened at $18.44 on Wednesday. AT&T Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.46 and a 52 week high of $21.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $19.26 and a 200 day moving average of $18.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.50, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.66.

AT&T (NYSE:T – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The technology company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. AT&T had a negative net margin of 6.60% and a positive return on equity of 14.18%. The company had revenue of $31.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. AT&T’s revenue for the quarter was down 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 9th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.02%. AT&T’s payout ratio is -93.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on T shares. Argus raised shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 8th. Credit Suisse Group boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Moffett Nathanson reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a research report on Monday, December 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AT&T presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.00.

AT&T Profile

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AT&T, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of telecommunications media and technology service. It operates through the Communications and Latin America segments. The Communications segment offers services to businesses and consumers located in the U.S., or in U.S. territories, and businesses globally.