World Investment Advisors LLC Grows Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

World Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 28.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 174,118 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 38,548 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in AT&T were worth $3,831,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in AT&T in the 2nd quarter valued at about $23,888,000. Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of AT&T by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 21,282,584 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $468,217,000 after purchasing an additional 104,700 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC lifted its position in AT&T by 18.3% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 195,991 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,312,000 after buying an additional 30,281 shares in the last quarter. Talbot Financial LLC purchased a new position in AT&T during the third quarter worth approximately $7,438,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in AT&T by 12.2% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,641,856 shares of the technology company's stock worth $50,486,000 after buying an additional 288,093 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of AT&T from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of AT&T in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on AT&T in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $25.00.

AT&T Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of T stock traded up $0.27 during trading on Friday, reaching $23.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 33,693,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,519,809. The company has a market capitalization of $169.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.59. AT&T Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.94 and a 1-year high of $24.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $22.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.55.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 7.42%. The company's revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.70%. AT&T's payout ratio is 90.24%.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc provides telecommunications and technology services worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Communications and Latin America. The Communications segment offers wireless voice and data communications services; and sells handsets, wireless data cards, wireless computing devices, carrying cases/protective covers, and wireless chargers through its own company-owned stores, agents, and third-party retail stores.