Cigna Investments Inc. New Reduces Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cigna Investments Inc. New decreased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 43,149 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 275 shares during the quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,725,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 5,936,009 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $216,266,000 after purchasing an additional 4,711,309 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $177,799,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 184.3% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 3,519,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 77.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $274,052,000 after purchasing an additional 2,656,396 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $39.94 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $40.18 and a 200-day moving average of $41.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.14 billion, a PE ratio of 9.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.78%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

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).