Ardsley Advisory Partners LP Buys New Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Ardsley Advisory Partners LP bought a new position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 75,000 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,708,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in T. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in AT&T by 28.4% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 174,118 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,831,000 after acquiring an additional 38,548 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of AT&T by 41.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,947,913 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $168,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,326,904 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,306,930 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $182,752,000 after purchasing an additional 402,894 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in AT&T by 42.6% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 8,740 shares of the technology company's stock worth $199,000 after purchasing an additional 2,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in AT&T by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 143,063 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,258,000 after purchasing an additional 11,088 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Securities upped their price target on AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $31.00 price objective (up from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $28.71.

AT&T Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of AT&T stock traded down $0.09 during trading on Monday, reaching $27.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,331,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,354,095. The company has a market cap of $198.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.56. AT&T Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.91 and a 1-year high of $29.03.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. The company had revenue of $30.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. AT&T's payout ratio is 68.10%.

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.