Contravisory Investment Management Inc. Increases Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Contravisory Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 89.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,242 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 19,011 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in AT&T were worth $1,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,858,418,000. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,203,667,000 after purchasing an additional 26,280,866 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of AT&T by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 53,432,827 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,216,665,000 after purchasing an additional 12,881,578 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of AT&T by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 78,148,354 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,779,438,000 after purchasing an additional 10,945,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 4,986.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,913,960 shares of the technology company's stock worth $225,741,000 after acquiring an additional 9,719,036 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. BNP Paribas raised AT&T from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $28.50 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on AT&T from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $28.71.

AT&T Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:T traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $27.76. 29,163,177 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 36,671,326. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $27.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. AT&T Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.42 and a twelve month high of $29.03. The company has a market cap of $199.72 billion, a PE ratio of 18.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.41.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio 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.