M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. Invests $1.14 Million in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. acquired a new position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 50,155 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,142,000. AT&T comprises approximately 1.2% of M.E. Allison & CO. Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Chesapeake Wealth Management grew its position in shares of AT&T by 1.9% during the third quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 24,304 shares of the technology company's stock worth $535,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Socha Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in AT&T by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Socha Financial Group LLC now owns 18,847 shares of the technology company's stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the period. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in AT&T by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 34,468 shares of the technology company's stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank increased its stake in AT&T by 2.3% in the third quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 21,636 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Finally, Hayek Kallen Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 0.8% in the third quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management now owns 60,271 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,326,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on T shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised AT&T from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $26.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays lifted their target price on AT&T from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of AT&T to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have 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 a consensus target price of $25.83.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of NYSE T traded up $0.28 on Monday, hitting $22.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 33,632,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,784,102. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $22.79 and a 200-day moving average of $21.35. The company has a market capitalization of $159.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.94 and a 12-month high of $24.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The business had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.24%.

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.