Invesco Ltd. Acquires 254,110 Shares of PLDT Inc. (NYSE:PHI)

Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of PLDT Inc. (NYSE:PHI - Free Report) by 19.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,536,883 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 254,110 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.71% of PLDT worth $34,042,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in PLDT during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in shares of PLDT during the third quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of PLDT by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,629 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310 shares in the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. raised its holdings in PLDT by 42.1% in the 4th quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 12,352 shares of the technology company's stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 3,659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in PLDT by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 12,842 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $284,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 2.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com raised PLDT from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th.

PLDT Stock Performance

NYSE PHI traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $23.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 68,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 51,674. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.86. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $23.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.13. PLDT Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.29 and a 12 month high of $29.05.

PLDT (NYSE:PHI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The technology company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $960.62 million during the quarter. PLDT had a net margin of 12.34% and a return on equity of 22.11%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PLDT Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PLDT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a $0.812 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a dividend yield of 5.4%. PLDT's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.42%.

About PLDT

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.