Ariel Investments LLC Sells 837,819 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Ariel Investments LLC lessened its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Free Report) by 19.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,405,865 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 837,819 shares during the quarter. Ariel Investments LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Verizon Communications worth $110,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Ossiam lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 658.6% during the second quarter. Ossiam now owns 1,361,200 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $50,623,000 after acquiring an additional 1,181,766 shares during the period. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the second quarter. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. now owns 80,219 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,983,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares during the period. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 173.7% during the third quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 652,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $21,137,000 after acquiring an additional 413,869 shares during the period. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the third quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,757 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,677,000 after buying an additional 3,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Regal Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 24.1% in the third quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 183,615 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,951,000 after buying an additional 35,675 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Craig L. Silliman sold 3,340 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.29, for a total value of $127,888.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,772,635.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,340 shares of company stock worth $1,712,039 over the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $40.20. 12,130,864 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,341,213. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $169.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.57, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 96.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Wolfe Research raised Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Citigroup raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.00.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Profile

(Free Report)

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).

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