Beaton Management Co. Inc. Has $1.09 Million Stock Holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Beaton Management Co. Inc. lessened its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,319 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Beaton Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $1,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of T. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in AT&T by 1,379.0% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,159,133 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $270,581,000 after purchasing an additional 13,201,774 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in AT&T by 43.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,853,624 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $414,563,000 after purchasing an additional 6,602,586 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 7.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 81,076,641 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,549,375,000 after purchasing an additional 5,592,123 shares in the last quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of AT&T by 22.0% in the second quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,988,396 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $477,528,000 after purchasing an additional 4,511,725 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in AT&T in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $78,570,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on T. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Scotiabank cut AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Barclays lifted their target price on AT&T from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.40.

AT&T Price Performance

T opened at $22.68 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.44, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. AT&T Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.75 and a 12-month high of $22.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $21.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.73.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The firm had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.89%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.24%.

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.