Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Bull Street Advisors LLC

Bull Street Advisors LLC cut its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 27.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,900 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 6,015 shares during the period. Bull Street Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,300,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $1,083,337,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 8,695,736 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted 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 valued at $792,937,000 after purchasing an additional 6,846,514 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of VZ opened at $42.11 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.21. The company has a market capitalization of $177.55 billion, a PE ratio of 10.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.38.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.31 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.44%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Insider Activity

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total transaction of $329,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,008 shares in the company, valued at $834,071.04. This trade represents a 28.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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).

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