Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Acquires 873 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 873 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.9% in the first quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 174.0% during the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 91,776 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,675,000 after buying an additional 58,283 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 10.5% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $60,828,000 after buying an additional 113,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $567,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.4 %

VZ traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $42.14. 11,265,721 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,198,563. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.21. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $40.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.31. The stock has a market cap of $177.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.17, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.86.

Insider Activity

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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).