Fmr LLC Sells 556,081 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Fmr LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,518,216 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 556,081 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,140,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 115,152 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,171,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666 shares in the last quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 19.3% in the third quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 11,326 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835 shares in the last quarter. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC now owns 101,374 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Pacific Center for Financial Services raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 10.9% during the third quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services now owns 7,277 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. 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 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research cut Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Ten investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.82.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.11 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $42.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.09. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The company has a market capitalization of $181.47 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

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).