Benin Management CORP Trims Stock Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Benin Management CORP decreased its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,958 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. Benin Management CORP’s holdings in AT&T were worth $523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of T. Chesapeake Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 24,304 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. raised its stake in AT&T by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. now owns 16,905 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Socha Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in AT&T by 2.5% during the third quarter. Socha Financial Group LLC now owns 18,847 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the period. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in AT&T by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 34,468 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $759,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Essex Savings Bank increased its holdings in shares of AT&T by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 21,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $476,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Argus upgraded shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.83.

AT&T Price Performance

NYSE:T opened at $22.69 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $22.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.41. The firm has a market cap of $162.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a one year low of $15.94 and a one year high of $24.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its 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 return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The firm had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.50 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. AT&T’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.24%.

AT&T Profile

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.