Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Position Cut by Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd

Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd lowered its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 725,742 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 32,277 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 6.1% of Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $29,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $2,300,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $1,083,337,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,346,682,000 after acquiring an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 25,227,069 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $983,445,000 after purchasing an additional 6,153,408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $14,549,343,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,337 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.82.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was 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 the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company's stock, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE VZ traded down $0.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $44.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,874,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,563,969. The stock has a market cap of $188.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.81, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. 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 earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

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).