Emfo LLC Has $1.74 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Emfo LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 46,126 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up approximately 1.6% of Emfo LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Emfo LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,739,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 88,532.0% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 79,084,569 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,115,932,000 after acquiring an additional 78,995,341 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,829,675,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 67,976,459 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,678,273,000 after acquiring an additional 11,987,691 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 81.3% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 10,604,493 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $540,193,000 after acquiring an additional 4,756,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 195.5% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,928,310 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $219,926,000 after acquiring an additional 4,584,012 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $40.10. 16,440,718 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,791,131. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.59 billion, a PE ratio of 14.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.60 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.63%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

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).