Blue Trust Inc. Sells 4,378 Shares of Telefonica SA (NYSE:TEF)

Blue Trust Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Telefonica SA (NYSE:TEF) by 17.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,378 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Telefonica were worth $95,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TEF. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Telefonica by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 44,637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $181,000 after acquiring an additional 4,247 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in Telefonica by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 28,317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 4,733 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Telefonica by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 256,943 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 52,847 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Telefonica by 408.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,197 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 10,602 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carrera Capital Advisors bought a new position in shares of Telefonica during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

Telefonica Stock Down 1.9%

Telefonica stock opened at $5.16 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $29.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.58, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.59. Telefonica SA has a 12 month low of $3.89 and a 12 month high of $5.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

Telefonica (NYSE:TEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08. Telefonica had a positive return on equity of 9.30% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The business had revenue of $9.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.06 billion. Equities analysts predict that Telefonica SA will post 0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Telefonica Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.1703 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a dividend yield of 4.5%. This is a positive change from Telefonica’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.16. Telefonica’s payout ratio is presently -65.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TEF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Telefonica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. DZ Bank cut Telefonica from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Telefonica in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

About Telefonica

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.