Ballentine Partners LLC Reduces Stock Position in Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF)

Ballentine Partners LLC lessened its position in Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 105,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 13,016 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Telefónica were worth $423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of TEF. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Telefónica by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 3,902 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Telefónica in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Telefónica by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 15,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 4,252 shares during the last quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Telefónica during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Telefónica by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 18,975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 2,936 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

Telefónica Stock Performance

Shares of Telefónica stock opened at $3.90 on Friday. Telefónica, S.A. has a 12 month low of $3.82 and a 12 month high of $4.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.98 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.47.

Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $11.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11 billion. Telefónica had a negative net margin of 2.84% and a positive return on equity of 10.10%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Telefónica, S.A. will post 0.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Telefónica Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.1576 per share. This represents a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Telefónica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -84.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TEF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. HSBC upgraded shares of Telefónica from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Telefónica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Telefónica to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Telefónica Profile

Telefónica, SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunications services in Europe and Latin America. The company offers mobile and related services and products, such as mobile voice, value added, mobile data and internet, wholesale, corporate, roaming, fixed wireless, and trunking and paging services.