FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co Sells 1,707 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 624,444 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,707 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for 1.8% of FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $24,972,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 655.5% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.3 %

VZ opened at $43.16 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $181.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.43, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.68. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $45.36.

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 the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.28%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Company 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).