New York State Common Retirement Fund Increases Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,435,053 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.13% of Verizon Communications worth $217,348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.5 %

VZ stock opened at $41.21 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $173.49 billion, a PE ratio of 9.95, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $39.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.58.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated 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. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Ten 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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).