Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 352,600 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 51.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 336,835 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 352,600 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $13,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Todd Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 666,461 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,652,000 after acquiring an additional 190,409 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 960,940 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $38,428,000 after purchasing an additional 23,405 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,451 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $283,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC now owns 5,224 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.9 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.73 on Wednesday. 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 $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.07 billion, a PE ratio of 10.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s fifty day moving average is $40.01 and its 200 day moving average is $41.67.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm earned $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.20%. 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 the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).