Cairn Investment Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cairn Investment Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,583 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,395 shares during the quarter. Cairn Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,548,163,000 after buying an additional 5,936,009 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $216,266,000 after purchasing an additional 4,711,309 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $177,799,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 184.3% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,428,540 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $217,087,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,258 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 77.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $274,052,000 after purchasing an additional 2,656,396 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of a number of research reports. 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. UBS Group raised 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. 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. Scotiabank increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $40.25 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $40.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market cap of $169.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.73%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

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).