Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 15,709 Shares of AT&T Inc. $T

Key Points

• Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its stake in AT&T Inc. by 43.0% during the first quarter, selling 15,709 shares, resulting in a total ownership of 20,843 shares valued at $589,000.
• AT&T's stock received mixed ratings from analysts, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a target price of $30.21, as various firms adjusted their price targets recently.
• AT&T recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2775 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 3.9% with a payout ratio of 63.07%.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 43.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,843 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 15,709 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.'s holdings in AT&T were worth $589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 7.1% in the first quarter. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,704 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Next Level Private LLC grew its position in AT&T by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Next Level Private LLC now owns 113,379 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,206,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Barnes Wealth Management Group Inc increased its stake in AT&T by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Barnes Wealth Management Group Inc now owns 15,027 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $425,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC increased its stake in AT&T by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 24,161 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $550,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its stake in AT&T by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 4,617 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on T shares. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on AT&T from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. HSBC cut AT&T from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on AT&T from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on AT&T from $29.50 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.21.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of NYSE T opened at $28.7290 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.40. AT&T Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.51 and a 1-year high of $29.65. The firm has a market cap of $205.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

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

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is 63.07%.

AT&T 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.