Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Nemes Rush Group LLC

Nemes Rush Group LLC reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 25.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,189 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,063 shares during the period. Nemes Rush Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,300,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,083,337,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 25,227,069 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $983,445,000 after purchasing an additional 6,153,408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $14,549,343,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,337 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.82.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $45.38 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $191.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.96, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.08.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This trade 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 worth $2,020,895. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).