Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 5,000 Shares of Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. reduced its stake in Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,000 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Telefônica Brasil were worth $689,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new position in Telefônica Brasil in the 3rd quarter valued at $96,000. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Telefônica Brasil by 10.0% during the third quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC now owns 12,257 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Telefônica Brasil during the third quarter worth about $115,000. Aprio Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Telefônica Brasil in the 4th quarter valued at about $143,000. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Telefônica Brasil in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $147,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on VIV shares. StockNews.com upgraded Telefônica Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $11.00 target price on shares of Telefônica Brasil in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $13.50 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $11.60.

Telefônica Brasil Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of VIV stock opened at $9.31 on Friday. Telefônica Brasil S.A. has a twelve month low of $7.87 and a twelve month high of $11.43. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.75.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter. Telefônica Brasil had a return on equity of 7.33% and a net margin of 9.70%. The company had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Telefônica Brasil S.A. will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Telefônica Brasil Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a — dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 1st will be given a $0.0373 dividend. This represents a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. Telefônica Brasil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.94%.

About Telefônica Brasil

Telefônica Brasil SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a mobile telecommunications company in Brazil. Its fixed line services portfolio includes local, domestic long-distance, and international long-distance calls; and mobile portfolio comprises voice and broadband internet access through 3G, 4G, 4.5G, and 5G, as well as mobile value-added and wireless roaming services.