Dakota Wealth Management Lowers Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Dakota Wealth Management lowered its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 4.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 152,671 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 6,363 shares during the quarter. Dakota Wealth Management's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.6% in 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. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $3,862,441,000 after buying an additional 998,847 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $2,300,846,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.4% in the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,893,487 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,555,351,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568,518 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.0%

VZ stock traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $41.16. 6,640,214 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,020,107. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $43.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.41. The company has a market cap of $173.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.37.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.58%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on VZ. Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $47.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer raised their price objective 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 raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 in the last 90 days. 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).