Renaissance Technologies LLC Buys 78,200 Shares of Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV)

Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV - Free Report) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,078,200 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock after buying an additional 78,200 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.13% of Telefônica Brasil worth $15,690,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in Telefônica Brasil by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 33,370 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in Telefônica Brasil by 41.1% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 264,413 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $2,716,000 after purchasing an additional 77,005 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Telefônica Brasil by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 326,954 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $3,413,000 after buying an additional 70,900 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Telefônica Brasil in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,619,000. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in Telefônica Brasil by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 40,462 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $416,000 after buying an additional 3,820 shares in the last quarter. 5.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on VIV shares. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Telefônica Brasil from $20.80 to $18.40 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays upgraded Telefônica Brasil from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $23.60 to $23.00 in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Telefônica Brasil from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $19.93.

Telefônica Brasil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VIV traded down $8.52 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $9.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 994,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 845,177. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $16.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.39, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.60. Telefônica Brasil S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $7.47 and a fifty-two week high of $10.41.

Telefônica Brasil (NYSE:VIV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.02. Telefônica Brasil had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 9.78%. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Telefônica Brasil S.A. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Telefônica Brasil Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th were paid a $0.043 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 25th. This is a boost from Telefônica Brasil's previous dividend of $0.02. Telefônica Brasil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.18%.

Telefônica Brasil Profile

Telefônica Brasil SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a mobile telecommunications company in Brazil. Its fixed line services portfolio includes local, domestic long-distance, and international long-distance calls; and mobile portfolio comprises voice and broadband internet access through 3G, 4G, 4.5G, and 5G, as well as mobile value-added and wireless roaming services.