Ballentine Partners LLC Trims Holdings in PLDT Inc. $PHI

Ballentine Partners LLC lessened its position in PLDT Inc. (NYSE:PHI) by 11.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,769 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,731 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in PLDT were worth $278,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in PLDT in the second quarter valued at $489,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of PLDT by 106.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 53,776 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,176,000 after acquiring an additional 27,769 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PLDT by 227.9% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 77,493 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,695,000 after acquiring an additional 53,861 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of PLDT during the 1st quarter worth about $320,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of PLDT by 47.0% in the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 63,008 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,378,000 after acquiring an additional 20,132 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 2.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on PHI shares. Zacks Research raised shares of PLDT to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. UBS Group lowered PLDT from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut PLDT from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce”.

PLDT Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE PHI opened at $19.05 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.12. The stock has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.35, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.66. PLDT Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.86 and a 52 week high of $27.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16.

PLDT Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 27th were issued a $0.8414 dividend. This is an increase from PLDT’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.81. This represents a yield of 530.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 27th. PLDT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.10%.

About PLDT

PLDT Inc provides telecommunications and digital services in the Philippines. The company operates through three segments: Wireless, Fixed Line, and Others. It offers cellular mobile, Internet broadband distribution, operations support, software development, and satellite information and messaging services; and sells Wi-Fi access equipment.