Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,513,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,516,735 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Verizon Communications worth $420,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,346,682,000 after acquiring an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,289,054,000 after acquiring an additional 2,081,241 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,074,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,305,727,000 after acquiring an additional 565,842 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,083,337,000. Finally, Amundi grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 25,227,069 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $983,445,000 after acquiring an additional 6,153,408 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7 %

VZ stock opened at $44.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $185.46 billion, a PE ratio of 10.64, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $41.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.01. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.15%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Company 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).