Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Has $22.50 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 562,566 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 20,468 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $22,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 10,968 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. JB Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 20,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $832,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. Curbstone Financial Management Corp increased its position in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 34,786 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,391,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 10,483 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,550,859.84. This represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,085 shares of company stock worth $1,422,495 in the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.91 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $179.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $43.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.96. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.47%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.35.

About Verizon Communications

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).