AT&T (NYSE:T) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

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

T has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group restated a buy rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of AT&T from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a sector outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays raised shares of AT&T from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and set a $20.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AT&T presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $21.73.

AT&T Price Performance

T opened at $18.68 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $17.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.22. AT&T has a twelve month low of $13.43 and a twelve month high of $19.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $133.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.04, a PEG ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.58.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $30.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.62 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 11.13%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that AT&T will post 2.24 EPS for the current year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in AT&T during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in AT&T in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. First Pacific Financial grew its position in AT&T by 166.7% during the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 1,600 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in AT&T during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA raised its holdings in AT&T by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,322 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AT&T Company Profile

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.