Zacks Investment Management Lowers Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Zacks Investment Management lessened its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Free Report) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,857,156 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 283,464 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management's holdings in AT&T were worth $65,057,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in AT&T during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in AT&T in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AT&T during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on T shares. Scotiabank boosted their price target on AT&T from $28.50 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. BNP Paribas raised shares of AT&T from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $28.50 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut AT&T from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.24.

AT&T Price Performance

Shares of AT&T stock traded up $0.10 during trading on Friday, reaching $27.12. 24,758,386 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,672,389. 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 1-year low of $16.09 and a 1-year high of $29.03. The company has a market cap of $194.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.20, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $26.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.11.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share 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 anticipate that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

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

AT&T Company 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.