Palouse Capital Management Inc. Sells 8,468 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Palouse Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 110,704 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 8,468 shares during the quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $1,858,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Carmel Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in AT&T by 16,250.0% during the third quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,625 shares during the period. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new position in AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Financial Freedom LLC bought a new position in AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Lipe & Dalton bought a new position in AT&T during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Ramirez Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in AT&T during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on T shares. TheStreet upgraded shares of AT&T from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of AT&T from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.68.

AT&T Trading Up 1.1 %

T traded up $0.18 on Friday, reaching $16.51. 45,814,895 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,577,504. AT&T Inc. has a one year low of $13.43 and a one year high of $18.72. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.49. The company has a market cap of $118.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.01). AT&T had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 15.39%. The company had revenue of $32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.63%.

AT&T Company 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.