Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Sells 430,817 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. reduced its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,877,794 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 430,817 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $155,073,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after purchasing an additional 5,936,009 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $216,266,000 after buying an additional 4,711,309 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $177,799,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 184.3% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,428,540 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $217,087,000 after buying an additional 3,519,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 77.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $274,052,000 after buying an additional 2,656,396 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $40.44 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $170.23 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.61.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

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).