Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 5,697,337 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 5,697,337 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Verizon Communications worth $14,549,343,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 655.5% in the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE VZ opened at $44.06 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.52 and a 200-day moving average of $42.00. The firm has a market cap of $185.46 billion, a PE ratio of 10.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 prior year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).