Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Invests $8.85 Million in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 195,038 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $8,848,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Arete Research raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.35.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $42.38 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $178.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.39%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.17%.

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).