GQG Partners LLC Decreases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

GQG Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 50.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,343,800 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 12,391,586 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC owned approximately 0.29% of Verizon Communications worth $493,629,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $14,549,343,000 after buying an additional 5,697,337 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,289,054,000 after purchasing an additional 2,081,241 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,074,297 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,305,727,000 after purchasing an additional 565,842 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $1,083,337,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of VZ stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $43.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,480,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,358,512. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $41.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.04. The company has a market cap of $182.95 billion, a PE ratio of 10.50, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.24%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.71.

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).