Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Acquires 41,384 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,897,699 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 41,384 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $75,889,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Credit Capital Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Credit Capital Investments LLC now owns 170,950 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,836,000 after acquiring an additional 4,950 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc now owns 9,068 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the period. Generali Investments Management Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $1,745,000. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 210,217 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,325,000 after purchasing an additional 16,178 shares during the period. Finally, Bestgate Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $399,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction 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 represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.92 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a market cap of $184.90 billion, a PE ratio of 10.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $41.30 and a 200-day moving average of $41.98. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its 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 period last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on VZ. Wolfe Research cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. 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. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.11.

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).