Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Sells 120,126 Shares of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. $TDS

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. trimmed its stake in Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) by 57.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 89,891 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock after selling 120,126 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Telephone and Data Systems were worth $3,049,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 1.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,482,147 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $272,898,000 after acquiring an additional 90,097 shares during the period. Carronade Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 10.0% during the first quarter. Carronade Capital Management LP now owns 4,623,934 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $194,668,000 after acquiring an additional 420,340 shares in the last quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Telephone and Data Systems by 16.4% in the first quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 4,292,243 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $180,703,000 after purchasing an additional 603,857 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,096,000. Finally, Rokos Capital Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems in the first quarter valued at approximately $21,040,000. 80.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Telephone and Data Systems Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE TDS opened at $35.42 on Friday. Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.71 and a 1-year high of $49.12. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $35.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.30 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 3.82 and a quick ratio of 3.81.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The Wireless communications provider reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $2.15. Telephone and Data Systems had a return on equity of 11.97% and a net margin of 33.20%. The company had revenue of $309.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.78 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.05) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. will post -0.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Telephone and Data Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.04 per share. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. Telephone and Data Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on TDS. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Telephone and Data Systems from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings lowered Telephone and Data Systems from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Telephone and Data Systems from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Telephone and Data Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.50.

About Telephone and Data Systems

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc (NYSE:TDS) is a telecommunications holding company that provides broadband and communications services in communities across the United States. Its principal operating business is TDS Telecom, which serves residential, business and wholesale customers with internet access, fiber-optic and other broadband connections, voice services, video entertainment and related communications solutions.

TDS Telecom focuses on expanding high-speed broadband availability in rural and suburban markets.