Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,914,190 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 40,167 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Verizon Communications worth $196,518,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Tigress Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $42.77. 25,452,613 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,105,430. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $39.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.61. The stock has a market cap of $180.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.33, a PEG ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares of the company's stock, valued at $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

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).