Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in PLDT Inc. $PHI

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in PLDT Inc. by 106.8%, acquiring 27,769 additional shares, bringing its total holdings to 53,776 shares valued at $1,176,000.
• Several institutional investors, including Jane Street Group LLC and Bank of America Corp DE, significantly boosted their stakes in PLDT during the recent quarters, reflecting growing interest in the company.
• PLDT announced a semi-annual dividend of $0.8414 per share, which represents a dividend yield of 530.0%, an increase from the previous dividend of $0.81.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PLDT Inc. (NYSE:PHI - Free Report) by 106.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,776 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 27,769 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s holdings in PLDT were worth $1,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in PLDT by 227.9% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 77,493 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,695,000 after purchasing an additional 53,861 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC purchased a new stake in PLDT in the first quarter valued at $320,000. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its position in PLDT by 47.0% in the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 63,008 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,378,000 after acquiring an additional 20,132 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in PLDT by 9.5% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 120,757 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,641,000 after acquiring an additional 10,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PLDT by 3.4% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 13,279 shares of the technology company's stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. 2.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PLDT Price Performance

PHI traded down $0.09 during trading on Monday, reaching $19.42. 118,645 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 157,766. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The company has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.66. PLDT Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.22 and a 1 year high of $27.93. The business's 50 day moving average price is $21.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.27.

PLDT Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.8414 per share. This is a positive change from PLDT's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 27th. This represents a dividend yield of 530.0%. PLDT's dividend payout ratio is 47.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on PHI. UBS Group lowered PLDT from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. Wall Street Zen cut PLDT from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of PLDT to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, PLDT has an average rating of "Reduce".

PLDT Company Profile

PLDT Inc provides telecommunications and digital services in the Philippines. The company operates through three segments: Wireless, Fixed Line, and Others. It offers cellular mobile, Internet broadband distribution, operations support, software development, and satellite information and messaging services; and sells Wi-Fi access equipment.