State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Decreases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,539,418 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 8,796 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $61,561,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after buying an additional 5,936,009 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $216,266,000 after buying an additional 4,711,309 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $177,799,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 184.3% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,428,540 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $217,087,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 77.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $274,052,000 after purchasing an additional 2,656,396 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $42.49. The stock had a trading volume of 19,757,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,033,547. The firm has a market cap of $178.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company's 50 day moving average price is $39.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.58.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.38%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.08.

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).