Viking Fund Management LLC Sells 115,700 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Viking Fund Management LLC cut its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 46.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 132,300 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 115,700 shares during the quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 88,532.0% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 79,084,569 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,115,932,000 after acquiring an additional 78,995,341 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $1,829,675,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 67,976,459 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,678,273,000 after acquiring an additional 11,987,691 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 175,039,883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,509,733,000 after acquiring an additional 8,171,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 339,007,286 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $12,607,681,000 after acquiring an additional 5,910,739 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $40.88. 17,846,757 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,364,316. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market cap of $171.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $40.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.26. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.08. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 96.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.86.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).