Aristotle Capital Management LLC Has $888.48 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Aristotle Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,217,597 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 570,745 shares during the quarter. Aristotle Capital Management LLC owned about 0.53% of Verizon Communications worth $888,482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.19 on Monday, reaching $43.55. 9,205,224 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,140,383. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $43.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.95. The stock has a market cap of $183.62 billion, a PE ratio of 10.52, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.22%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,500 shares of company stock worth $979,400 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.10% 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).