Cetera Investment Advisers Has $72.83 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cetera Investment Advisers reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,821,087 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 47,013 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $72,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $14,549,343,000 after buying an additional 5,697,337 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position 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 worth $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $3,862,441,000 after acquiring an additional 998,847 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,300,846,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,801,282,000 after buying an additional 4,951,733 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price 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. Nine investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE VZ traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $43.60. 14,951,823 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,157,208. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. 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 simple moving average of $43.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.97. The company has a market capitalization of $183.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.22%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Insider Activity

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total value of $329,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 19,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $834,071.04. This trade represents a 28.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,376,300 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.10% 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).