Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 566,694 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 26,800,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 566,694 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,071,753,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 655.5% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $43.31 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $39.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 65.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued 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. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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).