Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 5,688 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,434,559 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,688 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $57,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in Verizon Communications by 6.9% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 6,355 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 284,538 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $12,779,000 after purchasing an additional 5,745 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 183,305 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,232,000 after buying an additional 20,900 shares during the period. Suvretta Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.4% during the third quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 758,674 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,072,000 after buying an additional 148,770 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Providence Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the third quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 34,353 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,439,000 after buying an additional 789 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.71.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $44.96 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.09. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36. The stock has a market cap of $189.25 billion, a PE ratio of 10.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is owned by 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).