Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Trims Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,576,794 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,459 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $183,026,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Florida Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 230,106 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,202,000 after purchasing an additional 18,959 shares during the period. Bay Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $440,000. PKS Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $740,000. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,598 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,464,000 after buying an additional 1,472 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.53.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. The trade was a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.59 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $41.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.22%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

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).