Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 384,152 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 15,890 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $15,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $8,892,000 after buying an additional 48,294 shares during the period. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $15,303,000 after acquiring an additional 6,795 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $3,376,000. Burney Co. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $7,463,000 after purchasing an additional 43,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $48,503,000 after buying an additional 1,026,930 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications
In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on 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 owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Verizon Communications Stock Performance
Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $44.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,526,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,509,713. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $42.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.08. The firm has a market cap of $189.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.86, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Verizon Communications Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
VZ has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group upped 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.71.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Verizon Communications
About Verizon Communications
(
Free Report)
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).
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