Mechanics Bank Trust Department Makes New $210,000 Investment in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Mechanics Bank Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,537 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its position in AT&T by 227.6% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 131,813 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 91,578 shares in the last quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. grew its stake in AT&T by 356.5% in the second quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 1,429 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116 shares during the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC raised its holdings in AT&T by 107.5% in the second quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Performance

NYSE T opened at $21.37 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.49, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.70. AT&T Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.23 and a fifty-two week high of $22.34.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.57. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.16% and a net margin of 10.41%. The company had revenue of $29.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. AT&T’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.19%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on T. Scotiabank lowered shares of AT&T from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on AT&T from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Barclays increased their price target on AT&T from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on AT&T in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.38.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc provides telecommunications and technology services worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Communications and Latin America. The Communications segment offers wireless voice and data communications services; and sells handsets, wireless data cards, wireless computing devices, carrying cases/protective covers, and wireless chargers through its own company-owned stores, agents, and third-party retail stores.