WASHINGTON TRUST Co Sells 236,393 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co lessened its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 54.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 194,571 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 236,393 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in AT&T were worth $4,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of T. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of T opened at $25.88 on Friday. AT&T Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.94 and a fifty-two week high of $25.93. The firm has a market cap of $185.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.37, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $23.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.29%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on T shares. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. DZ Bank raised shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.33.

About AT&T

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.