Merit Financial Group LLC Buys 82,401 Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 27.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 382,332 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 82,401 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in AT&T were worth $10,812,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 48.6% in the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the technology company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on AT&T from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $28.71.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of T stock traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $27.76. The company had a trading volume of 28,415,037 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,671,178. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $27.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.38. AT&T Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.42 and a 52-week high of $29.03. The company has a market capitalization of $199.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.41.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.01). AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The firm had revenue of $30.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. AT&T's quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.10%.

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.