United Community Bank Trims Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

United Community Bank decreased its holdings in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 84.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,705 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 48,454 shares during the period. United Community Bank’s holdings in AT&T were worth $153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in T. Norges Bank purchased a new position in AT&T in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,118,288,000. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $316,472,000. Kodai Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $152,109,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in AT&T by 120.8% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,086,854 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $152,477,000 after purchasing an additional 4,970,954 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in AT&T by 5.6% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 75,484,518 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,328,528,000 after purchasing an additional 4,014,873 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of AT&T stock traded down $0.24 on Wednesday, reaching $18.56. 6,382,250 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,270,723. AT&T Inc. has a twelve month low of $13.43 and a twelve month high of $19.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.98, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $17.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.29.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. AT&T had a net margin of 11.13% and a return on equity of 14.63%. The firm had revenue of $30.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.98%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on T. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AT&T from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.81.

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.