Verus Capital Partners LLC Sells 4,456 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Verus Capital Partners LLC cut its holdings in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 127,834 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,456 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in AT&T were worth $2,911,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in AT&T by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,742,080 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,667,000 after buying an additional 121,702 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter worth approximately $381,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 2,552.6% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 546,517 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,444,000 after purchasing an additional 525,914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in AT&T by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 1,242,755 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,298,000 after purchasing an additional 60,520 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of T stock opened at $26.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $193.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.05, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.94 and a 1 year high of $27.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $23.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.49.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. As a group, equities analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. AT&T’s payout ratio is 74.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of AT&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup increased their target price on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on AT&T from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.33.

AT&T Company Profile

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.