Todd Asset Management LLC Decreases Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Todd Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 302,056 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 16,317 shares during the period. Todd Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $11,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. AJOVista LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $178,000. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 369,936 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $13,947,000 after acquiring an additional 8,512 shares in the last quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group grew its position in Verizon Communications by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 8,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 1,687 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 34,601 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,304,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $923,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $38.89. 13,195,563 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,003,748. The stock has a market cap of $163.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.84%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.25%.

Insider Activity

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’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 sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on VZ. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

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).