Kestra Investment Management LLC Has $3.18 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Kestra Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 79,600 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,418 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VZ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 5,936,009 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $4,289,054,000 after acquiring an additional 2,081,241 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted 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 in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 18,161,563 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $815,636,000 after acquiring an additional 502,949 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 12,493,998 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $561,105,000 after acquiring an additional 46,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of 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. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 over the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $41.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $172.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.90, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.61%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

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).