Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Raises Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,519,010 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 51,026 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $24,228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Baker Boyer National Bank bought a new stake in AT&T during the 2nd quarter valued at $832,000. CRA Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of AT&T by 12.7% in the second quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 19,700 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 2,225 shares during the period. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the second quarter valued at about $225,000. Citadel Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 8.2% in the second quarter. Citadel Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 29,150 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Members Trust Co increased its holdings in AT&T by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 38,025 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $700,000 after purchasing an additional 3,319 shares during the period. 53.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com started coverage on AT&T in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Moffett Nathanson raised shares of AT&T from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 6th. Citigroup raised shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 29th. HSBC decreased their target price on AT&T from $21.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Monday, June 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on AT&T from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 20th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AT&T presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.00.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:T traded up $0.17 during trading on Friday, hitting $15.23. 80,594,245 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 32,218,100. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.35. The company has a market cap of $108.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.48, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.64. AT&T Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.43 and a 52-week high of $20.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The technology company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.03. AT&T had a negative net margin of 7.22% and a positive return on equity of 15.91%. The firm had revenue of $29.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 7th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -90.98%.

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, and carrying cases and hands-free devices through its own company-owned stores, agents, and third-party retail stores.