Fisher Asset Management LLC Has $2.44 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Fisher Asset Management LLC cut its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,807 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 7,538 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,027,542 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,151,714,000 after buying an additional 4,527,387 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 17.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 28,400,326 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $920,455,000 after acquiring an additional 4,134,150 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $133,491,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,782.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,974,813 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $149,850,000 after purchasing an additional 3,872,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 104.0% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,302,051 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $171,839,000 after purchasing an additional 2,703,197 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $39.48 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $40.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42. The stock has a market cap of $166.18 billion, a PE ratio of 14.73, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

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).