Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Cuts Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Key Points

• The Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund reduced its holdings in Verizon by 23.5%, selling 295,000 shares, leaving it with a total of 962,382 shares.
• Verizon's stock currently has a market cap of $184.34 billion with the latest earnings showing an EPS of $1.22, exceeding analysts' expectations.
• Recent analyst reports have led to raised price targets for Verizon, with Morgan Stanley increasing their target from $47.00 to $48.00 and others projecting a consensus target around $47.35.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund reduced its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 23.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 962,382 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 295,000 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $43,654,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 303.9% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $2,261,648,000 after purchasing an additional 37,516,167 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth about $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 737.5% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,697,003 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $530,576,000 after buying an additional 10,300,369 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 8,937,180 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $357,398,000 after buying an additional 8,695,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Verizon Communications by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 19,828,378 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $792,937,000 after buying an additional 6,846,514 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $43.52. 10,580,268 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,830,672. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.14, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Tigress Financial lifted 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. Wall Street Zen raised Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.35.

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).