RWC Asset Management LLP Raises Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

RWC Asset Management LLP increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 439 shares during the quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $674,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,548,163,000 after acquiring an additional 5,936,009 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth $177,799,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in 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 in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 77.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $274,052,000 after buying an additional 2,656,396 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,289,054,000 after buying an additional 2,081,241 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. This 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 through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $42.77 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $39.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $180.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.34%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications 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).