Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Decreases Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lowered its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 16.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 379,917 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 77,098 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $15,193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 655.5% during the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 839 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. The trade was a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

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Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $44.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 68,411,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,347,959. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.46 billion, a PE ratio of 10.64, a P/E/G 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.01. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Ten investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.53.

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).