Integrated Advisors Network LLC Sells 7,291 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Integrated Advisors Network LLC decreased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 6.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 101,158 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 7,291 shares during the quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $2,300,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,083,337,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 19,828,378 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $792,937,000 after acquiring an additional 6,846,514 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ traded down $0.72 on Thursday, hitting $43.02. 8,133,529 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,001,515. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.40 and a 200-day moving average of $42.31. The stock has a market cap of $181.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.39, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. 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 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.31 billion. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business 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 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 6.30%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

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).