Wellington Management Group LLP Lowers Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Wellington Management Group LLP cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 17.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,032,525 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 437,011 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $81,281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $2,300,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $1,083,337,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 6,846,514 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Nine investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of Verizon Communications 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 10,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $43.30. 9,959,703 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,147,661. The stock has a market cap of $182.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.46, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $43.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.18.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. On average, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. 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).