Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Has $3.54 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lessened its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 88,396 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 6,831 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,535,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VZ. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,300,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $1,083,337,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position 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 period. Amundi raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 25,227,069 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $983,445,000 after acquiring an additional 6,153,408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $14,549,343,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,337 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.92.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. The trade was a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 over the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $44.01 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a market cap of $185.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s fifty day moving average is $43.39 and its 200-day moving average is $42.04.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.16%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

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).