Morningstar Investment Services LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Morningstar Investment Services LLC trimmed its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 50.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,319 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 34,585 shares during the quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,300,846,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% in the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 8,937,180 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $357,398,000 after buying an additional 8,695,736 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted 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 buying an additional 6,846,514 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 valued at $14,549,343,000 after buying an additional 5,697,337 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 4,951,733 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Scotiabank raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Arete Research raised Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.00.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $1.93 during trading on Monday, reaching $42.77. The company had a trading volume of 33,886,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,317,146. The firm has a market capitalization of $180.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $42.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.44. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The business's revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.34%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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).