AT&T (NYSE:T) Now Covered by Analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of AT&T (NYSE:T) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $28.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Moffett Nathanson raised their price target on shares of AT&T from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of AT&T to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on AT&T from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. New Street Research upgraded AT&T from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on AT&T from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.00.

AT&T Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:T opened at $23.36 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $22.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.49. AT&T has a 52-week low of $15.94 and a 52-week high of $24.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $167.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.59.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $30.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.50 billion. AT&T had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that AT&T will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.75%. AT&T’s payout ratio is currently 90.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 2nd quarter worth $23,888,000. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in AT&T by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 21,282,584 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $468,217,000 after purchasing an additional 104,700 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC raised its holdings in AT&T by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 195,991 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,312,000 after buying an additional 30,281 shares during the period. Talbot Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of AT&T in the third quarter worth about $7,438,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 12.2% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,641,856 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $50,486,000 after buying an additional 288,093 shares during the period. 57.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.