Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Sells 59,100 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. lowered its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,986,000 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 59,100 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $74,872,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BCK Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 174.0% in the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 91,776 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,675,000 after acquiring an additional 58,283 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $60,828,000 after acquiring an additional 113,032 shares during the period. Finally, First Western Trust Bank bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $567,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VZ. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.50.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $39.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,554,994 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,917,470. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $40.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.01. The company has a market cap of $166.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.39, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.02% 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).