Steph & Co. Sells 2,201 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Steph & Co. lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,137 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,201 shares during the quarter. Steph & Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $646,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 88,532.0% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 79,084,569 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,115,932,000 after purchasing an additional 78,995,341 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,829,675,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 67,976,459 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,678,273,000 after purchasing an additional 11,987,691 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.3% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 10,604,493 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $540,193,000 after buying an additional 4,756,222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,027,542 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,151,714,000 after acquiring an additional 4,527,387 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.0 %

VZ traded up $0.01 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.78. The company had a trading volume of 19,007,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,702,611. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.42. The stock has a market cap of $167.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.41, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.16.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.69%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VZ. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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).