Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 4,343,135 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,063,479 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 4,343,135 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $967,744,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.68.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $40.09. 15,911,465 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,588,142. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42. The stock has a market cap of $168.75 billion, a PE ratio of 14.96, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $40.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.44.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.64%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

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).