Ariel Investments LLC Lowers Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Ariel Investments LLC decreased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,352,692 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 55,788 shares during the period. Ariel Investments LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $54,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AXA S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 1,464,774 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $58,576,000 after acquiring an additional 83,944 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $91,000. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $326,000. AlTi Global Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 264,705 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $10,572,000 after buying an additional 3,913 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 4WEALTH Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $402,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued 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 $47.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total transaction of $329,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,008 shares in the company, valued at $834,071.04. This trade represents a 28.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,500 shares of company stock valued at $979,400 in the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ traded down $0.19 during trading on Monday, hitting $43.55. 9,205,224 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,140,383. 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 market capitalization of $183.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.52, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36. The business has a 50 day moving average of $43.68 and a 200-day moving average of $41.95.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.22%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

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).