New York State Teachers Retirement System Cuts Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,721,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 179,082 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $148,835,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Campbell Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Campbell Wealth Management now owns 5,732 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $2,310,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 76,725 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,068,000 after acquiring an additional 1,630 shares during the period. DT Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 28,551 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,142,000 after acquiring an additional 1,301 shares during the period. Finally, First Merchants Corp lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 24,775 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $991,000 after acquiring an additional 2,037 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.06 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.56. 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 has a market cap of $172.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.92, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on VZ. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

About Verizon Communications

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).