Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 64,807 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 7,538 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gratus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $296,000. TIAA Trust National Association purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth approximately $5,014,000. Bray Capital Advisors grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bray Capital Advisors now owns 9,739 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 1,525 shares during the period. ING Groep NV grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9,461.5% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 613,467 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $19,882,000 after buying an additional 607,051 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 828,916 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,865,000 after buying an additional 71,807 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $604,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $39.48 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.01. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The company has a market capitalization of $166.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.74%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.21.

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).