L & S Advisors Inc Acquires New Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

L & S Advisors Inc bought a new position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 156,014 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,552,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its position in AT&T by 48.6% during the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in AT&T during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

T has been the subject of several research reports. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $28.50 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Argus raised shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on AT&T from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. New Street Research upgraded AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.79.

AT&T Stock Performance

T opened at $28.20 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $25.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. AT&T Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.94 and a 12-month high of $28.51.

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

AT&T Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.50%.

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.