Stephens Inc. AR Sells 47,143 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Stephens Inc. AR reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 307,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 47,143 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $12,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 58.0% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $78,975,000 after buying an additional 644,761 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at $224,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 360.1% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 34,227 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,537,000 after acquiring an additional 26,788 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 6,905 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shore Point Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.6% during the third quarter. Shore Point Advisors LLC now owns 9,131 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 in the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $39.88 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $40.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.55. The firm has a market cap of $167.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.63, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 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 previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company 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 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Ten investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

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).