The Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) share price has been an interesting one to watch over the past year. Since bottoming out around $2.66 back in October last year, Telstra shares have been on quite the run. The telco is today sitting at a share price of $3.86. That's roughly 45% off of the 52-week low that we saw back in October. We also see Telstra shares up 28.4% year to date in 2021 so far, and up 39% over the past 12 months to date.
But how did Telstra shares perform over the most recent quarter? The FY2022 year just saw its first quarter (running 1 July – 30 September) end, so how did Telstra shares go?
Well, this ASX 200 telco started the quarter off at a share price of $3.76. It finished up the quarter on 30 September at a price of $3.93. That puts its raw capital gains at roughly 4.52% for the quarter just passed. Not bad, one could say, especially considering that the broader S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) only managed a performance of 0.26% over the same period. That means the Telstra share price handily outperformed the market over the FY22 first quarter.
It's also worth noting that this performance includes Telstra going ex-dividend for its final shareholder dividend during the quarter. Telstra traded ex-dividend on 25 August for its 8 cents per share payout, which naturally resulted in the Telstra share price taking a commensurate hit.
But this payout only hit shareholders' pockets on 23 September, after the quarter ended. If these dates had been shuffled around to include the dividend payment in the quarter, shareholder returns for the period would have been even better.
So where to now for Telstra shares?
Could the Telstra share price be a buy today?
One broker who thinks so is investment bank Goldman Sachs. Goldman last month reaffirmed Telstra shares as a 'buy', with a 12-month share price target of $4.40. That implies a future potential 12-month upside of roughly 14% on current pricing.
Goldman is bullish on Telstra following the company's T25 update, which outlined a number of further cost-saving measures Telstra is planning on implementing. It also notes Telstra's prioritisation of "growing franked dividends over time" as well as an expected share buyback program.
At the current Telstra share price, this telco has a market capitalisation of $44 billion and a dividend yield of 4.15%.
