Vista Investment Partners II LLC Takes Position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Vista Investment Partners II LLC bought a new stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 14,933 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $340,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its position in AT&T by 48.6% in the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of AT&T by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 12,383 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Northeast Investment Management raised its position in 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 during the last quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 1.9% during the third quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 24,304 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. raised its stake in AT&T by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. now owns 16,905 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Stock Up 1.6 %

AT&T stock opened at $27.15 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. AT&T Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.94 and a 1-year high of $27.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.22, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $24.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.84.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 13.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. Equities research analysts forecast that AT&T Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.09%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 74.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on T shares. Scotiabank raised their price objective on AT&T from $26.00 to $28.50 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of AT&T from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price 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. New Street Research raised AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas raised AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $28.50 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.74.

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.