UPDATE: Stifel Nicolaus Downgrades AT&T to Hold on Valuation

Stifel Nicolaus reduced its rating on AT&T

from Buy to Hold and removed its previous price target of $38. Stifel Nicolaus noted, "We are lowering our estimates for both 3Q12 and 4Q12 because of what we expect will be a successful launch of the iPhone 5. We had initially modeled an early 4Q12 release of the iPhone 5; however, after Wednesday's announcement of a 9/21 launch, we have shifted a portion of the iPhone 5 sales into 3Q12 and increased our estimate for total iPhone 5 sales. As such, we now expect wireless service margins to decline by 12.6 percentage points by YE2012 (vs. 2Q12 margin)." T closed at $38.15 on Thursday.