Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Steph & Co.

Steph & Co. decreased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,137 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,201 shares during the period. Steph & Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $646,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.01 on Wednesday, hitting $39.78. The stock had a trading volume of 19,007,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,702,611. The company has a market capitalization of $167.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $40.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.16. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on VZ. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate 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).