Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Sells 736 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. trimmed its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 40,482 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 736 shares during the quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in AT&T were worth $679,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in AT&T by 44.2% in the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 367,645 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,169,000 after acquiring an additional 112,732 shares during the period. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter valued at about $302,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth about $166,000. Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 45.8% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 135,437 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,273,000 after purchasing an additional 42,547 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $125,000. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on T shares. StockNews.com downgraded AT&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price 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. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of AT&T from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of AT&T from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of AT&T from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.68.

AT&T Price Performance

AT&T stock opened at $16.51 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.50. AT&T Inc. has a one year low of $13.43 and a one year high of $18.72. The company has a market capitalization of $118.09 billion, a PE ratio of 8.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

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

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.