Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd decreased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 36.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 459,982 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 260,680 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $20,865,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $381,000. Meyer Handelman Co. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.4% during the first quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 1,110,948 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $50,393,000 after purchasing an additional 76,083 shares in the last quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.8% during the first quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $14,079,000 after purchasing an additional 107,200 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 2,075,431 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $82,996,000 after acquiring an additional 20,610 shares during the period. Finally, Welch Group LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,137,904 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $51,126,000 after purchasing an additional 63,474 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 over the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $47.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.00.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of VZ traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $40.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,997,542 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,259,077. The company's fifty day moving average price is $42.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $171.90 billion, a PE ratio of 9.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. On average, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. 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).