Optiver Holding B.V. Boosts Stake in Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF)

Optiver Holding B.V. grew its stake in Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF) by 4,346.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,415,214 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,383,388 shares during the quarter. Optiver Holding B.V.’s holdings in Telefónica were worth $5,703,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Telefónica during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in Telefónica by 88.3% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 10,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 4,743 shares in the last quarter. Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Telefónica in the first quarter valued at about $45,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Telefónica in the second quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, AlphaQ Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Telefónica during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. 1.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on TEF. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Telefónica from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 14th. StockNews.com raised Telefónica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 31st. TheStreet raised Telefónica from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Monday, September 18th. Finally, New Street Research lowered Telefónica from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Telefónica presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.50.

Telefónica Stock Performance

Shares of TEF traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $4.11. The company had a trading volume of 453,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 994,146. Telefónica, S.A. has a 52-week low of $3.38 and a 52-week high of $4.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.10, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $4.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

Telefónica Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.1592 per share. This represents a yield of 5.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 12th. This is a positive change from Telefónica’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.12. Telefónica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.76%.

About Telefónica

Telefónica, SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunications services in Europe and Latin America. The company's mobile and related services and products comprise mobile voice, value added, mobile data and Internet, wholesale, corporate, roaming, fixed wireless, and trunking and paging services.