Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 429,642 AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 429,642 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $9,783,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in AT&T during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in AT&T during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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. acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AT&T Stock Up 0.2%

T stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $26.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 31,508,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,740,874. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. AT&T Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.11 and a 52-week high of $29.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $190.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.78, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.81.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $30.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.39 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.19%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their target price on AT&T from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $31.00 target price (up from $30.00) on shares of AT&T in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AT&T from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $28.50 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, DZ Bank 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 Wednesday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $28.71.

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.