Invesco Ltd. Reduces Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Invesco Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,020,904 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 3,101,735 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.50% of Verizon Communications worth $840,626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Tigress Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $48.50 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.92.

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Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.78 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $43.70. The company had a trading volume of 13,868,293 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,056,835. The stock has a market cap of $183.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.53, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $42.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.05. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

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).