AIA Group Ltd Sells 24,916 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

AIA Group Ltd decreased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 24.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,167 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 24,916 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,086,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 14,663 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $587,000 after purchasing an additional 904 shares during the period. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 337.5% in the fourth quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 32,640 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,305,000 after purchasing an additional 25,179 shares during the last quarter. Bcwm LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $4,251,000. United Bank bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $265,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 188,757 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,350,000 after acquiring an additional 6,432 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.71.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $45.40 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $191.10 billion, a PE ratio of 10.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate 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. 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were 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 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. 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 Company 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).