Amalgamated Bank Sells 13,881 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Amalgamated Bank decreased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 833,582 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 13,881 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $33,335,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in 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 worth $4,548,163,000 after buying an additional 5,936,009 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,289,054,000 after buying an additional 2,081,241 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,074,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,305,727,000 after buying an additional 565,842 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 18,161,563 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $815,636,000 after purchasing an additional 502,949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 12,493,998 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $561,105,000 after purchasing an additional 46,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on VZ. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.31 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.31 billion, a PE ratio of 10.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.95 and a 200 day moving average of $41.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 in the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company 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).