Empire Life Investments Inc. Has $8.84 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Empire Life Investments Inc. reduced its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 33.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 221,013 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 110,271 shares during the period. Empire Life Investments Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,838,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after purchasing an additional 5,936,009 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $216,266,000 after purchasing an additional 4,711,309 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $177,799,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 184.3% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,428,540 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $217,087,000 after acquiring an additional 3,519,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 77.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $274,052,000 after acquiring an additional 2,656,396 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $41.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $172.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.55. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (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 quarter last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

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).