Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ – Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 34,834 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $ 1,810,000.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 290,740,891 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $ 15,106,895,000 after acquiring an additional 791,443 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Verizon Communications by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 170,483,451 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $ 8,858,320,000 after buying an additional 4,312,242 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 73,174,424 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $ 3,792,626,000 after buying an additional 1,776,263 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 8.7% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 4,571,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $ 1,884,917,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.78% of the company stock.
In other news, CEO Tami A. Erwin sold 23,647 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $ 49.77, for a total transaction of $ 1,176,911.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 21,817 shares of the company stock, valued at $ 1,085,832.09. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Craig L. Silliman sold 1,558 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $ 52.00, for a total transaction of $ 81,016.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 38,077 shares of the company stock, valued at approximately $ 1,980,004. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,321 shares of company stock valued at $ 1,415,192 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company stock.
VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $ 61.00 to $ 55.00 in a research report on Monday, April 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 12th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, April 25th. Wolfe Research lowered their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $ 60.00 to $ 51.00 and set a “peer perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 2nd. Finally, DZ Bank lowered shares of 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $ 57.20.
Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $ 49.03 on Friday. The company 50 day simple moving average is $ 50.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $ 51.83. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $ 45.55 and a fifty-two week high of $ 56.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $ 205.91 billion, a P / E ratio of 9.52, a P / E / G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.69.
Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $ 1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $ 1.35. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.93% and a return on equity of 28.15%. The business had revenue of $ 33.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $ 33.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $ 1.31 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 8th will be paid a $ 0.64 dividend. This represents a $ 2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 7th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 49.71%.
Verizon Communications Company Profile: (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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