First Merchants Corp Reduces Holdings in AT&T Inc. $T

First Merchants Corp trimmed its position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 38.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,124 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 7,591 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in AT&T were worth $351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in AT&T during the first quarter worth $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of AT&T by 182.1% during the first quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC now owns 993 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank boosted its stake in shares of AT&T by 412.1% during the second quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 973 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 783 shares during the period. Finally, Core Alternative Capital boosted its stake in shares of AT&T by 125.4% during the first quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 1,021 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

T has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank set a $30.25 target price on shares of AT&T and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of AT&T in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on AT&T from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.75.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of AT&T stock opened at $26.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $186.77 billion, a PE ratio of 14.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.89. AT&T Inc. has a one year low of $21.05 and a one year high of $29.79.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $30.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.44 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 13.36%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 63.07%.

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.