Wright Investors Service Inc. Sells 37,467 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Wright Investors Service Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 23.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 123,360 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 37,467 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $2,714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of T. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 227.6% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 131,813 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 91,578 shares during the period. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 356.5% during the 2nd quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 1,429 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116 shares during the period. American Capital Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of AT&T by 107.5% in the second quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the period. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the second quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:T traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $21.91. 24,545,359 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,977,004. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a one year low of $14.12 and a one year high of $22.34. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.57. The business had revenue of $29.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.05 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.16% and a net margin of 10.41%. The firm’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.07%. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 59.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on T shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. BNP Paribas raised shares of AT&T from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Redburn Atlantic raised AT&T to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on AT&T from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.38.

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.