Wellington Management Group LLP Has $81.28 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Wellington Management Group LLP decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 17.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,032,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 437,011 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $81,281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 74.2% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,012 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $180,000 after buying an additional 1,709 shares in the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $464,000. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 37,506 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,684,000 after purchasing an additional 5,340 shares in the last quarter. Wexford Capital LP bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $723,000. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 56.6% during the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 459,777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $20,649,000 after purchasing an additional 166,137 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Scotiabank raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Ten 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.82.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 5.5 %

Shares of VZ opened at $43.11 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.41, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.68 and a 200-day moving average of $42.11.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).