Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Reduces Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. decreased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,813,310 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 88,367 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.11% of Verizon Communications worth $192,484,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Ten 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.71.

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Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ traded up $0.47 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $45.40. The stock had a trading volume of 27,775,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,542,689. The firm's 50 day moving average is $42.11 and its 200 day moving average is $42.07. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $191.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.97, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 business earned $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 5.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This represents 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 stock was 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 trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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).