DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP Has $3.49 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP reduced its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 87,208 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 13,323 shares during the period. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,487,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,549,343,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,337 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,862,441,000 after purchasing an additional 998,847 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $2,300,846,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,801,282,000 after buying an additional 4,951,733 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VZ. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ opened at $43.31 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.81 billion, a PE ratio of 10.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.26%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 64.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,550,859.84. This represents a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,298,440 in the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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).