Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 3.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 624,745 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 19,734 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $28,058,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Bank of America upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.46.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.99. The company had a trading volume of 13,718,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,366,363. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.44. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.46 and a 52-week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The business's quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.45%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 116.81%.

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).