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

Gotham Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 18.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 250,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 54,926 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $10,018,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,892,000 after buying an additional 48,294 shares during the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,303,000 after purchasing an additional 6,795 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,463,000 after purchasing an additional 43,472 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,333,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 64.6% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,394,921 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $55,783,000 after purchasing an additional 547,384 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.65 on Monday. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.54, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $43.74 and its 200-day moving average is $41.98.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Nine investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. This represents a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value 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 $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 31,500 shares of company stock worth $1,376,300 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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).