Bessemer Group Inc. Sells 230,384 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Bessemer Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 6.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,461,700 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 230,384 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. owned 0.08% of Verizon Communications worth $157,022,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $14,549,343,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,337 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $2,300,846,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,801,282,000 after purchasing an additional 4,951,733 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $834,071.04. This represents a 28.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of VZ traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $42.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,392,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,128,143. The firm has a market cap of $178.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.40%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.41.

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).