Natixis Advisors LLC Has $80.91 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,023,041 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 48,689 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $80,906,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,083,337,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,346,682,000 after acquiring an additional 7,421,148 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 25,227,069 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $983,445,000 after acquiring an additional 6,153,408 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $177,799,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 184.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,428,540 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $217,087,000 after acquiring an additional 3,519,258 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.67 on Friday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $41.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

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Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued 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 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders 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 6.21%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

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In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. The trade was a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 over the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research cut Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Tigress Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.11.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Verizon Communications

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).

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