Lincluden Management Ltd. Decreases Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Lincluden Management Ltd. trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 258,080 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 7,269 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises about 1.5% of Lincluden Management Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Lincluden Management Ltd.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $11,707,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $381,000. Meyer Handelman Co. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.4% in 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. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 52.8% in 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 grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 2,075,431 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $82,996,000 after purchasing an additional 20,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Welch Group LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 5.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 63,474 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $43.10. 16,557,678 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,882,436. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $42.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.48. The stock has a market cap of $181.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.05, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $47.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%. The company's revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI upgraded 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. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.35.

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).