Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Position Cut by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lessened its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 895,093 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 21,279 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $35,795,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $797,000. Strategic Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 7,113 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,897,699 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $75,889,000 after purchasing an additional 41,384 shares during the period. Credit Capital Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Credit Capital Investments LLC now owns 170,950 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $6,836,000 after purchasing an additional 4,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bankshares Inc boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc now owns 9,068 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $44.06. The stock had a trading volume of 68,411,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,347,959. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a market cap of $185.46 billion, a PE ratio of 10.64, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $41.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.00.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.15%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.53.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).