Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Has $1.33 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,327 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 900 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted 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 worth $4,548,163,000 after purchasing an additional 5,936,009 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 2,081,241 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,074,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,305,727,000 after acquiring an additional 565,842 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $815,636,000 after acquiring an additional 502,949 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 46,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.5 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.65, a PEG ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. 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. 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 dividend yield of 6.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped 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. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

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).