Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Cuts Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,777,813 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 199,061 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for about 0.8% of Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned about 0.07% of Verizon Communications worth $111,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,892,000 after buying an additional 48,294 shares during the period. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,303,000 after purchasing an additional 6,795 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,376,000. Burney Co. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,463,000 after buying an additional 43,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $48,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,930 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.71.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $44.96 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $189.25 billion, a PE ratio of 10.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $42.11 and a 200-day moving average of $42.08.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS 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 prior year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,809.20. This 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 this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. 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 insiders.

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).