Foundations Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 138,569 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 18,608 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,027,542 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $3,151,714,000 after buying an additional 4,527,387 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 28,400,326 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $920,455,000 after purchasing an additional 4,134,150 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $133,491,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,782.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,974,813 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $149,850,000 after purchasing an additional 3,872,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 104.0% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,302,051 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $171,839,000 after purchasing an additional 2,703,197 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on VZ. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Verizon Communications from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $40.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,922,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,575,107. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The business has a fifty day moving average of $40.30 and a 200-day moving average of $39.24. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. The stock has a market cap of $170.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. Verizon Communications's revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.57%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

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).

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VZ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.