Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 3,984 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 289,274 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,984 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $11,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 655.5% in the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $42.49 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $178.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.90 and a 200-day moving average of $41.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.38%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 over the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is owned by 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).