Gotham Asset Management LLC Has $10.02 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Gotham Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 18.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 250,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 54,926 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $10,018,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Czech National Bank raised its position in Verizon Communications by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 912,730 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $36,500,000 after buying an additional 55,206 shares during the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,762 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 1,669 shares during the last quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 30,671 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,227,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 25,583 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after buying an additional 6,059 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its position in Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 78,026 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,120,000 after buying an additional 1,251 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of VZ opened at $43.65 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The firm has a market cap of $184.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.98. 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 quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 64.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on VZ. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. This trade represents a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,376,300 in the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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).