Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,914,190 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 40,167 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $196,518,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,548,163,000 after acquiring an additional 5,936,009 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $216,266,000 after purchasing an additional 4,711,309 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $177,799,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 184.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,428,540 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $217,087,000 after buying an additional 3,519,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 77.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $274,052,000 after buying an additional 2,656,396 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $41.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.59 billion, a PE ratio of 9.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The company has a fifty day moving average of $39.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.58.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on VZ shares. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. Corporate insiders own 0.02% 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).