Bessemer Group Inc. Has $147.65 Million Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Bessemer Group Inc. trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 18.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,692,084 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 862,759 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $147,646,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. CenterBook Partners LP increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 316.6% during the 4th quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 229,974 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,197,000 after purchasing an additional 174,769 shares in the last quarter. Cutler Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Cutler Capital Management LLC now owns 86,819 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,472,000 after purchasing an additional 15,782 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 11,617 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $464,000 after acquiring an additional 2,389 shares during the last quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 20,590 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $823,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the period. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 949,634 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,976,000 after buying an additional 55,003 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $42.94 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.37, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.31%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $48.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction 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 approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 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).