Bill Few Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ – Get Rating) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 73,389 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $ 3,813,000. Verizon Communications accounts for about 2.0% of Bill Few Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 290,740,891 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $ 15,106,895,000 after acquiring an additional 791,443 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 170,483,451 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $ 8,858,320,000 after acquiring an additional 4,312,242 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 73,174,424 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $ 3,792,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,776,263 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 56,847,194 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $ 2,953,781,000 after acquiring an additional 4,571,857 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 31,551,623 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $ 1,639,502,000 after acquiring an additional 2,847,892 shares during the period. 63.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
In other news, EVP Craig L. Silliman sold 1,558 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $ 50.94, for a total transaction of $ 79,364.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 34,961 shares in the company, valued at $ 1,780,913.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Tami A. Erwin sold 23,647 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $ 49.77, for a total value of $ 1,176,911.19. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 21,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $ 1,085,832.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,321 shares of company stock valued at $ 1,415,192 in the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
NYSE VZ opened at $ 49.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $ 50.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $ 51.83. The company has a market capitalization of $ 205.91 billion, a P / E ratio of 9.52, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $ 45.55 and a 1-year high of $ 56.85.
Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $ 1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $ 1.35. The company had revenue of $ 33.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the estimate consensus of $ 33.61 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 28.15% and a net margin of 15.93%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $ 1.31 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 8th will be given a dividend of $ 0.64 per share. This represents a $ 2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 7th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 49.71%.
A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. DZ Bank downgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $ 44.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, April 29th. Wolfe Research cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $ 60.00 to $ 51.00 and set a “peer perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 2nd. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, April 25th. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $ 61.00 to $ 55.00 in a research note on Monday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $ 57.20.
About Verizon Communications: (Get Rating)
Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, offers communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. Its Consumer segment provides postpaid and prepaid service plans; internet access on notebook computers and tablets; wireless equipment, including smartphones and other handsets; and wireless-enabled internet devices, such as tablets, and other wireless-enabled connected devices comprising smart watches.
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