Federated Hermes Inc. Has $592.04 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 18.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,704,001 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,619,715 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 1.5% of Federated Hermes Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.37% of Verizon Communications worth $592,041,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 23,162 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $873,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch AG grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 312,013 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,763,000 after buying an additional 59,680 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 172,302 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,494,000 after buying an additional 4,032 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 466,189 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $17,575,000 after buying an additional 28,213 shares during the period. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 35.3% in the 4th quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 8,413 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 2,197 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $39.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,020,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,534,375. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $40.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.17. The company has a market capitalization of $167.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.66%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on VZ. KeyCorp raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications 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).