Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Sells 295,000 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lessened its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 23.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 962,382 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 295,000 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $43,654,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. now owns 45,188 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,050,000 after buying an additional 987 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 303.9% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,261,648,000 after acquiring an additional 37,516,167 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 18.4% during the 1st quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 54,103 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,454,000 after purchasing an additional 8,396 shares in the last quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 68.4% during the 1st quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,897 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 2,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 125,381 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,687,000 after purchasing an additional 6,273 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.72 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $42.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $184.34 billion, a PE ratio of 10.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.2%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 63.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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).