Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd Decreases Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd cut its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 725,742 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 32,277 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for about 6.1% of Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $29,022,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $45.38 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $191.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.96, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.08.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.97%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Verizon Communications Profile

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).