LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Sells 42,000 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 83.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,359 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 42,000 shares during the period. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $334,000 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. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $232,389,000 after buying an additional 39,403 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 30,981 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,328,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 29.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,730 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $572,000 after purchasing an additional 2,913 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 27.5% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,490,744 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $63,894,000 after purchasing an additional 321,706 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,308,611 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $193,500,000 after purchasing an additional 432,422 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.81 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.75. The company has a market cap of $184.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.19%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).