Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Trims Stake in Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,327,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 90,966 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s holdings in Telefónica were worth $20,776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TEF. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV bought a new stake in Telefónica during the fourth quarter worth about $1,200,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Telefónica by 278.2% during the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 192,932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $785,000 after purchasing an additional 141,921 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its stake in Telefónica by 44.1% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 365,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,489,000 after purchasing an additional 111,895 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC lifted its stake in Telefónica by 101.0% during the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 197,962 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $774,000 after purchasing an additional 99,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BayBridge Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in Telefónica during the fourth quarter worth about $336,000. 1.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Telefónica Stock Down 2.4 %

NYSE TEF opened at $4.28 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.24 billion, a PE ratio of -26.72 and a beta of 0.70. Telefónica, S.A. has a 1 year low of $3.71 and a 1 year high of $4.80. The business’s 50-day moving average is $4.46 and its 200 day moving average is $4.23.

Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.96 billion. Telefónica had a positive return on equity of 7.84% and a negative net margin of 1.57%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Telefónica, S.A. will post 0.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Telefónica Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.1628 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a yield of 5.2%. Telefónica’s payout ratio is -143.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Telefónica from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Telefónica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold”.

Telefónica Company 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.