B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Sells 106,014 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 28.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 271,309 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 106,014 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $10,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Boston Research & Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Boston Research & Management Inc. now owns 106,500 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,258,000 after buying an additional 4,154 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 69,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,780,000 after acquiring an additional 20,214 shares during the period. Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC now owns 108,751 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,349,000 after acquiring an additional 3,532 shares in the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 5,061,647 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $202,415,000 after acquiring an additional 78,464 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 185,588 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,422,000 after purchasing an additional 34,763 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the 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 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 have sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $44.96 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. 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 company has a market cap of $189.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.86, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $42.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.07.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 company earned $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.03%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Verizon Communications 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).