The Goldman Sachs Group Initiates Coverage on AT&T (NYSE:T)

The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of AT&T (NYSE:T) in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $22.00 target price on the technology company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on T. Oppenheimer restated an outperform rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Scotiabank raised their target price on AT&T from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a sector outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of AT&T from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of AT&T from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $21.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AT&T currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $21.73.

AT&T Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of T opened at $18.68 on Monday. AT&T has a 52-week low of $13.43 and a 52-week high of $19.32. The stock has a market cap of $133.94 billion, a PE ratio of 10.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $17.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. AT&T had a net margin of 11.13% and a return on equity of 14.63%. The firm had revenue of $30.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.62 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that AT&T will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.94%. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AT&T

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in AT&T by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 624,994,998 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,999,912,000 after buying an additional 2,588,539 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in AT&T by 5.6% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 75,484,518 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,328,528,000 after purchasing an additional 4,014,873 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AT&T during the 4th quarter worth $1,118,288,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in AT&T by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 50,589,421 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $848,888,000 after purchasing an additional 798,024 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in AT&T by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 47,377,267 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $794,978,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137,792 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

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.