Marshall Wace LLP Takes Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 7,059,577 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $160,747,000. Marshall Wace LLP owned 0.10% of AT&T at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 26,161 shares of the technology company's stock worth $596,000 after acquiring an additional 421 shares during the period. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in AT&T by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 59,394 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,352,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of AT&T by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 12,383 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the period. Finally, Northeast Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Northeast Investment Management now owns 51,198 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,166,000 after buying an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on T. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on AT&T from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. DZ Bank upgraded 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 report on Wednesday, January 29th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $28.50 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $27.24.

AT&T Stock Performance

T traded up $0.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $27.12. The stock had a trading volume of 24,758,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,700,813. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $26.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.14. AT&T Inc. has a one year low of $16.17 and a one year high of $29.03. The firm has a market cap of $194.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. As a group, research analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.09%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.50%.

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.