Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Holdings Lessened by Insight Folios Inc

Insight Folios Inc reduced its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 171,107 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,805 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises 2.9% of Insight Folios Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Insight Folios Inc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $1,882,164,000. Capital World Investors raised its position in Verizon Communications by 127.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $821,900,000 after buying an additional 12,220,777 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 92.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $851,989,000 after purchasing an additional 10,882,873 shares in the last quarter. Third Point LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $173,325,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 419.8% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,141,257 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $193,825,000 after purchasing an additional 4,152,099 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.14.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $41.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,653,911 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,298,411. The firm has a market cap of $173.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $40.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.47%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.25%.

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).