Benchstone Capital Management LP Purchases New Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Benchstone Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,870,937 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $42,601,000. AT&T comprises 4.4% of Benchstone Capital Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in AT&T during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in AT&T in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in AT&T by 48.6% during the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the technology company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in AT&T during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AT&T in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

T has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of AT&T in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AT&T has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $28.71.

AT&T Stock Performance

Shares of AT&T stock traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $28.22. The company had a trading volume of 32,463,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,387,329. The stock has a market cap of $203.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.94, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. AT&T Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.00 and a 12-month high of $29.03. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $27.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.60.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.01). AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The company had revenue of $30.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. AT&T's quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors 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 3.93%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.10%.

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.