Eastern Bank Trims Stock Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Eastern Bank decreased its holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 84.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 121,325 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 676,617 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in AT&T were worth $2,763,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in T. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of AT&T by 1,379.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,159,133 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $270,581,000 after acquiring an additional 13,201,774 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $414,563,000 after purchasing an additional 6,602,586 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in AT&T by 2.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 161,120,657 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,532,684,000 after buying an additional 3,630,972 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 110.3% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,155,046 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $117,623,000 after buying an additional 3,228,888 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 1,901.0% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,166,814 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $60,518,000 after buying an additional 3,008,549 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AT&T Price Performance

AT&T stock opened at $21.56 on Tuesday. AT&T Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.94 and a 52-week high of $24.03. The company has a market cap of $154.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.53, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $22.81 and its 200 day moving average is $21.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The business’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on T. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. New Street Research upgraded AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on AT&T in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AT&T has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.76.

About AT&T

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.