Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Has $208.64 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec cut its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 36.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,217,382 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 2,982,083 shares during the quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned 0.12% of Verizon Communications worth $208,643,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $2,300,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,083,337,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 7,421,148 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 52.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 19,828,378 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $792,937,000 after buying an additional 6,846,514 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in 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. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 30,500 shares of company stock worth $1,298,440. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $43.74. The company had a trading volume of 15,365,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,156,328. The company's 50-day moving average is $43.68 and its 200-day moving average is $41.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $184.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.57, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.20%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research cut Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.41.

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).