AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Shares Sold by Leavell Investment Management Inc.

Leavell Investment Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 48,644 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,167 shares during the quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $816,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AT&T by 85,003.0% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 76,836,936 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,414,568,000 after acquiring an additional 76,746,649 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter worth $1,229,499,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 185.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 52,613,513 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $790,301,000 after buying an additional 34,189,954 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 130.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,515,546 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $863,884,000 after buying an additional 32,558,342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 37.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 109,639,428 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,018,462,000 after buying an additional 29,769,976 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AT&T Stock Performance

AT&T stock opened at $17.56 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $17.20 and a 200-day moving average of $16.38. AT&T Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.43 and a 52 week high of $19.99. The stock has a market cap of $125.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

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

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.32%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $18.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. TheStreet raised shares of AT&T from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.61.

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.