Invenomic Capital Management LP Sells 321,623 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Invenomic Capital Management LP trimmed its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 53.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 284,690 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 321,623 shares during the quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $11,385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,062,347 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $42,483,000 after buying an additional 11,605 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 32,586 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,303,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its position in Verizon Communications by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 912,730 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $36,500,000 after buying an additional 55,206 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,762 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 1,669 shares during the period. Finally, Crescent Sterling Ltd. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 30,671 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,227,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.96 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $43.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,478,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,099,648. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.45, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $43.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.00. 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 (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 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 analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 10,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 31,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,376,300. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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).