Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF) Shares Sold by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lessened its stake in Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF) by 4.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 248,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,679 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Telefónica were worth $1,097,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Telefónica by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,519,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,924,000 after acquiring an additional 39,000 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Telefónica by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,474,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,001,000 after buying an additional 76,410 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Telefónica by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 471,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,919,000 after buying an additional 25,733 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Telefónica by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 373,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,459,000 after acquiring an additional 6,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its position in Telefónica by 44.1% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 365,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,489,000 after acquiring an additional 111,895 shares during the period. 1.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Telefónica Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of TEF stock opened at $4.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.91. The business’s fifty day moving average is $4.45 and its 200-day moving average is $4.24. Telefónica, S.A. has a 1 year low of $3.71 and a 1 year high of $4.80. The stock has a market cap of $24.10 billion, a PE ratio of -26.56 and a beta of 0.68.

Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.02. Telefónica had a negative net margin of 1.57% and a positive return on equity of 7.84%. The company had revenue of $11.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.96 billion. Equities analysts expect that Telefónica, S.A. will post 0.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. This represents a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. Telefónica’s payout ratio is -143.75%.

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.