Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Boosts Stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 20.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,158,639 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,399,900 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.11% of AT&T worth $185,772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Passumpsic Savings Bank boosted its stake in shares of AT&T by 12.2% during the third quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 17,369 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 1,893 shares during the period. Sculati Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in AT&T by 38.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 45,581 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after buying an additional 12,772 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co grew its stake in AT&T by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 129,474 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 7,394 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of AT&T by 28.4% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 174,118 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,831,000 after acquiring an additional 38,548 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 386.1% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 266,565 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,864,000 after acquiring an additional 211,723 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on T shares. BNP Paribas upgraded AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $28.50 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on AT&T from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. DZ Bank upgraded shares of AT&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.24.

AT&T Stock Up 2.5 %

T stock opened at $26.99 on Wednesday. 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 $16.29 and a 52 week high of $29.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $193.74 billion, a PE ratio of 18.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $26.89 and a 200 day moving average of $24.22.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 13.97%. Sell-side analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.