Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH Decreases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH decreased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 68.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,229 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 78,347 shares during the quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 31,500 shares of company stock worth $1,376,300. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock traded up $0.31 during trading on Monday, hitting $44.30. The company had a trading volume of 14,773,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,169,367. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $186.78 billion, a PE ratio of 10.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. On average, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.12%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.41.

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).