MetLife Investment Management LLC Trims Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

MetLife Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,067,159 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 16,819 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $39,688,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its position in Verizon Communications by 95,391.7% during the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 136,655,301 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,082,211,000 after acquiring an additional 136,512,194 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 88,532.0% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 79,084,569 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,115,932,000 after acquiring an additional 78,995,341 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $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 valued at $2,678,273,000 after acquiring an additional 11,987,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Verizon Communications by 14,194.1% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 9,221,577 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $358,627,000 after acquiring an additional 9,157,064 shares in the last quarter. 61.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays upgraded Verizon Communications from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. Citigroup raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $39.00 to $40.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 29th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Tigress Financial dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $64.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 2nd. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.50.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ traded up $0.29 on Monday, reaching $36.52. The stock had a trading volume of 5,568,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,053,445. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.53 billion, a PE ratio of 7.32, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $33.49 and a 200 day moving average of $34.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $42.58.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.27 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 21.26% and a net margin of 15.58%. The company’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.32 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.7 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 6th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 53.63%.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides 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).