Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) Stock Price Crosses Below Fifty Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Telefónica, S.A. (NYSE:TEF) passed below its fifty day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $4.31 and traded as low as $3.94. Telefónica shares last traded at $3.95, with a volume of 734,699 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TEF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Telefónica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. HSBC raised Telefónica from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Telefónica to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Telefónica Stock Down 1.3 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $4.31 and its 200 day moving average is $4.49. The stock has a market cap of $22.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.19 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Telefónica Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.1576 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Telefónica’s payout ratio is -84.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Telefónica

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Telefónica by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 115,212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $485,000 after acquiring an additional 20,393 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Telefónica by 10.5% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 94,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 8,969 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC grew its holdings in Telefónica by 25.4% during the 2nd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 34,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $149,000 after purchasing an additional 6,886 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in Telefónica during the 2nd quarter worth $102,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Telefónica by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,258,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,300,000 after buying an additional 4,949 shares in the last quarter. 1.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Telefónica

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.