Korea Investment CORP Has $120.40 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Korea Investment CORP cut its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 24.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,010,706 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 985,086 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned 0.07% of Verizon Communications worth $120,398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $8,892,000 after buying an additional 48,294 shares during the period. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $15,303,000 after acquiring an additional 6,795 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,376,000. Burney Co. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $7,463,000 after purchasing an additional 43,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $48,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,930 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. The trade was a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock traded down $0.01 on Friday, reaching $44.96. 19,526,803 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,509,713. The firm has a market capitalization of $189.25 billion, a PE ratio of 10.86, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $42.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 65.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.71.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

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).