Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Sells 2,304 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,261 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,304 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 88,532.0% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 79,084,569 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,115,932,000 after purchasing an additional 78,995,341 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $1,829,675,000. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Verizon Communications by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 67,976,459 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,678,273,000 after acquiring an additional 11,987,691 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 81.3% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 10,604,493 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $540,193,000 after acquiring an additional 4,756,222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 195.5% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,928,310 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $219,926,000 after acquiring an additional 4,584,012 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.50.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $39.72 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $40.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.05. The firm has a market cap of $166.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.39, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.38%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Verizon Communications

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).